With a 2-6 record and a fourth-place finish in the Mission League, the girls’ volleyball team did not make playoffs. The team’s last game was a nonleague 3-2 win over St. Lucy’s Priory High School.
Playoffs were in the squad’s grasp, but they needed a win against either Marymount Oct. 23 or Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy Oct. 30. However, they were unable to overcome either of the top two teams in the league, falling in four sets to Marymount and in three sets to FSHA.
“I think that our team was a really cohesive unit where every player worked hard for both themselves and for each other,” setter Natalie Elattrache ’16 said. “I think that sometimes we had trouble closing out games after we fought really hard in the beginning. Even though the season didn’t go as well as we all wanted it to, playing with this team was truly an honor.”
The girls also went 4-2 and took third place overall in the Redondo Union High School Tournament, a top tournament in Southern California, which took place over Halloween weekend. On the first day, the Wolverines were in a pool with Chino Hills, West Torrance, and Palos Verdes. They only lost to Chino Hills and placed second in the pool, advancing to the playoff bracket. The next day, the team defeated Bakersfield and Long Beach Poly before falling to eventual champion and host Redondo. The team tied for third over many teams that made playoffs, and outside hitter Rachel Savage ’15 and libero Mila Barzdukas ’15 were named to the all-tournament team.
“We had a tough season, no doubt,” Savage said. “We got unlucky a lot, considering most of the games we lost were just by two points. I think getting third in that big tournament and getting such a close victory over St. Lucy’s even though we had been disqualified for playoffs was finally when everything clicked and we started to win those close games.”
The varsity squad has eight juniors, so the Wolverines will be very experienced in every position next year. Next season, they must get second or better in the Mission League if they want to remain in the Mission League, which is re-categorized every two years with the Sunshine League. The top teams from the Sunshine league after two years will be moved up, and the bottom two teams from the Mission League will be moved down.
