Varsity volleyball defeats Laguna Creek

The women’s varsity volleyball game between DHS and Laguna Creek on Oct. 24 was good practice for the Blue Devils as their season comes to a close and play-offs loom on the horizon.

The Blue Devils played well, winning the necessary three out of five sets with all 25 points each time, while the Laguna Creek Cardinals could only reach a high of eight points.

“It’s unfortunate we couldn’t get a bit more competition,” head coach Julie Crawford said. According to Crawford, the game was a time to work on skills that still need some polishing.

The Blue Devils did make some mistakes, but it’s easy to do so in such a fast-paced game. Laguna Creek scored its points when Devils served out of bounds or into the net, or when tricky Cardinal hits slipped through the DHS defense.

The majority of the Devil serves were powerful and accurate. Emma Peterson, a sophomore, won three Devil points in a row with her strong serves.

Junior Angeline Leigh also stood out. She was actually complimented by a Laguna Creek parent in the audience after one of her powerful serves sailed across the court.

The team members also worked together well to respond to Cardinal serves. Their well-rehearsed system of bump, set, spike earned them many points. Junior Alyssa Crary put this system to good use in the third set with a strike that discombobulated the Laguna Creek girls.

There were a few times when Laguna Creek serves did manage to slip past DHS. Sophomore Mackenzie Harrison lost some leg skin when she dove for but missed a serve that gave Laguna Creek its second point in the third set.

The practice that the Devils got at the Laguna Creek game will come in handy soon. Two of the four upcoming games are against really hard teams, according to Crawford.

Those four games are the last of the official season, but the team is already looking further into the future.

“We’re hoping to make it to play-offs,” Crawford said.