Girls’ volleyball picked up where they left off last season in league play, cementing their place as one of the most successful Stallion teams in recent memory.
In the last two years, the Girls’ volleyball team has gone undefeated against conference opponents, winning an unprecedented 19 straight games dating back to 2015. To put that into perspective, exactly one half of the current members on the varsity team were still in middle school when the Stallions last lost in league.
This year’s team was led by University of San Diego commit Katie Lukes, who leads the league in hitting percentage and kills, while also placing top five in digs and serving aces.
“I think our success is from team chemistry and from how hard we work. We love to play, and we’re always pumped up for games,” said Lukes.
They also have plenty of production from sophomore Casi Newman, who led the league in assists.
This team returned 12 players from the team that lost to Great Oak in the first round of the CIF tournament last season, and that loss was a key motivator in their march through their competition this season.
“[The loss last year] was frustrating, but they were a good team. It helps us though, because we’re getting better and trying harder. It brought up our intensity,” said Newman.
The Girls’ volleyball team has taken part in several tournaments this season, including one this August in Hawaii. In these tournaments, they took on some of the top teams in the nation, including the top ranked team in the country (Mater Dei) and six different teams ranked in the top 30 in the nation according to MaxPreps. These games against the best competition in the country gave the team some valuable experience according to senior Gabriella Bellizzi.
“It helped us a lot because we found out what we needed to work on,” said Bellizzi.
The Stallions carried this momentum into their postseason, with a run into the third round of CIF and a trip to the finals of the Regional State Championship, where they lost to Santa Margarita in a tightly contested game. This was the farthest that Girls’ volleyball has ever gotten in both competitions.