By james art The Fremont Firebirds varsity volleyball team earned a bit of revenge with an impressive two-set win over the Santa Clara Bruins on Tuesday, October 15th. On Sept. 23, the Firebirds fell to Santa Clara in a grueling five-set marathon. In the rematch on their home court, however, the Firebirds made quick work of the Bruins, winning 25-22, 25-17, 25-17.
“I feel really, really good,” Firebirds senior director Caroline Striegel said. “I think we worked very hard; I’m really glad we won.”
Strigle was one of the key standouts for the Firebirds, along with Nora Whalen and Noah Halevi, who provided a strong front-row defence.
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“Last practice we worked on the front row, getting tips,” Strigle admitted of the stingy front row defense. “And coming out to dig balls, especially from the opposite corner, where we saw some kills being made against us.”
“I thought she had a great game tonight,” noted Fremont head coach Michelle Wagner. “She’s actually really progressed for us over the last week and a half, growing in confidence, growing in work ethic. I think she’s more thirsty for the ball and looking for it and wanting it. I’ve seen really huge growth from her, which is why she won the other outside hitter position against Natalie [Escalera].”
Escalera was also usually strong. The Firebirds left-hander, six-foot, forged irrevocably kills repeatedly in clutch situations.
“Anytime we’re out of system, I definitely look to her,” noted Escalera libero Zoe Shea. “She’s a very reliable hitter and gets us a lot of our kills out of the system.”
Shea, along with Alexandra [Lexie] Chen and McKayla Hsu again led the way with key serves that helped propel the offense to allow Strigl, Escalera and others to rack up points on the offensive side of the ball.
While the Firebirds looked like a very synchronized team, the Bruins, on the other hand, looked out of sorts.
“Honestly, we didn’t go into this game with the mindset of winning. We just got into it already down,” admitted Bruins captain Ninya Udinor. “We definitely didn’t talk that much. Our team really feeds off the energy of other teams and the stands and stuff. For some reason, we just weren’t able to create our own energy.
“Honestly, I have no idea,” answered Bruins head coach Martina Carrillo as to why her team seemed to lack its usual enthusiasm. “I feel like every year we come to Fremont, the energy is just low. I don’t know if we can blame it on the aura of fitness, but for some reason at this point in the season the energy just drops.”
The loss drops the Bruins’ league record to 4-6, while, conversely, the Firebirds’ record improves to 4-6.
Both teams finish their seasons on October 29 with home games. Santa Clara will host Cupertino while Fremont hosts McDonald.
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