Trojans volleyball triumph over Cal High

With two sets to the Trojans and two sets to the Grizzly Bears, each player feels their team’s pride at stake. As each team inches closer to that 25 point mark, the incredibly close match is settled by a… foul?

The CVHS Trojans battled Cal High’s Grizzly Bears in an aggressive match, taking the victory of 3-2 sets on March 9. This was the Trojans sixth game of the season and their fifth home game, but this was their first game against the Grizzlies.

“I felt like this was really the first game we’ve played our best so far. We put our all into it and it showed,” said player Nathan Yee.

Starting the first set, Lukas Winn was the first to put the Trojans in the lead, landing numerous unstoppable spikes. Winn’s points were supported throughout the set by Grant Guiomar. Although by the second break of the set the Trojans were only up by five points, the Grizzly Bears could not keep up and the Trojans took the round 25-17.

Although Todd Daniel led the Trojans to a swift uptake in score soon into the second set, the Grizzly Bears were ahead by the second break 19-14. Through intense attacks, the Grizzly Bears took the second set 25-21.

The third and fourth sets saw another swapping of victories between the teams, with the Grizzly Bears taking the third 25-23 and the Trojans leading the fourth 25-11. Throughout the entire game, both teams were neck and neck in score and drive, with the crowd anxiously awaiting each serve. Multiple players, including Yee, referred to Alexander Cmelak as the MVP of the match, doing his absolute best to support the offensive tactics of the team.

During the fifth and final set, both teams still increased their scores incredibly closely. The first break saw the Trojans lead 12-9 and the second at 15-10. As the Trojans went upwards of 20 points, the Grizzly Bears began falling behind, and when 24 points were reached, a sudden foul was called.

“The down ref called the nets randomly, and it was our point either way. They were just crying about it the whole time,” explained Yee.

Although both the teams and crowd had a lot to say about the net call, including the down referee giving the players a lecture on not approaching referees about calls, the Trojans took home the game 3-2 sets. With this show of grit and immense determination by the players to win, the Trojans teamwork and skills will continue growing through their next matches.

“This game was really crazy. The referee was not at all behind our backs and it didn’t feel even. It got a little bit heated but we focused,” said Daylen Berio.