Article - CIF Sac-Joaquin

In the annual crosstown volleyball match-up between Folsom High and Vista del Lago’s girls’ volleyball teams, it was the Bulldogs coming away with a 3-0 win on Thursday night, 25-17, 25-23, 27-25. The Bulldogs (7-2) came out playing their best volleyball of the night to start the game, taking a 7-0 lead on their way to a 13-6 lead. The team spread the love around too. Of their first seven points they had two aces from Megan Munson, two kills from Jazmin Ojo, and one kill each from middle Avery Masters and right side Brooklyn Graham. That’s essentially how it was most of the night for the Bulldogs and why this team is destined to win a lot of games: they’ve got a lot of weapons all over the floor. Masters led the way with 10 kills. Another middle, Hadassah Makama, had arguably the best night of all with eight kills and six aces. Ojo, a freshman outside hitter, made six kills, while junior outside Eden Fisher had four. Grace Poort had three kills, while Madeline Seabury, Lindsey Olsen and Graham each had two kills while Munson finished with three aces. “Our biggest strength right now is that we can run an even offense,” senior setter Poort said. “No hitter is better than any other. I trust that my outside will get a kill, my middle will get a kill and my right side/oppo will get a kill.” On the other side, Vista (10-5) showed well, particularly after the first set, as it lost the last two sets by four points, 25-23, 27-25. Vista simply couldn’t close out either set. The Eagles were within three points of the Bulldogs for the entire third set and had the match tied on several occasions, but could never take the lead. In the third set, Vista led almost from start to finish. Two kills by Lily Smith had the Eagles in front 21-15. Later a block from Kylie Briscoe gave the Eagles a 24-18 lead, but the Eagles still couldn’t win it, as Folsom scored six straight points to tie the match at 24. Makama had a great service run for the Bulldogs with three aces. Ojo’s block tied the match at 24, before Smith came through for the Eagles with a big kill to put them up by one, 25-24. From there the Bulldogs scored three straight points to win it, including a kill from Masters and a ace from Poort to win the match. Smith had a big night for the Eagles to lead all players with 14 kills. Briscoe and Triplett each had four kills while Jenna Cartwright made three. Rylan Nettleton had four aces for the Eagles. It was a solid win for the Bulldogs, who have a young, but experienced and large team with 19 players. “We’ve got a lot of new players, but we’ve also got a lot of returners, as we only graduated two players from last year,” Folsom coach Devin Elmore said. “Right now, we’re just trying to get the pieces to click. We have our moments of ups and downs, but when they’re doing their really best, they’re a tough team to beat. “Tonight’s match I loved the see the fight back. We were down most of the third set and I think we were down 24-19 and our middle goes back there and goes on a huge serving run, not scared of the moment and that’s what we’ve been practicing lately. So to see it going from a practice moment to in-game execution was awesome.” It’s only early September, but the Bulldogs have very high hopes for this season, a year after making it to the state semifinals. “This group can take it all the way; I truly believe that,” Elmore said. “Last year they were young; still not battle tested; to have that experience to make it to semis of state and to bring a lot of those girls back and add a few new really good pieces, this team is amazing.” Poort added, “I think we can go really far and I’m hoping more than last year.”

Bulldogs sweep competitive Eagles in three