Girls Volleyball Claims Another Victory in their First Round of CIF

On Nov. 1, Samo students, parents and faculty alike all joined in the North Gym at 6 p.m. to watch the girl’s varsity volleyball team secure a spot in the next round of CIF after beating Atascadero High School 3-0. At the start of the first set, Samo jumped into the lead with Veronica Johnson (’18) jumping into action, gaining the first point of the game. Johnson helped the team with aggressive serves and strong defense. “It was a good game,” Johnson said. “Everyone was focused for the most part so we were able to keep good defense.”The Samo girls won the first set with a final score of 25-6 and the second set brought more of the same pattern as the first with great defense and saves by Grace Garland (’17) and Dylan Leight (’20). Samo got ahead with the lead and took another win with a final score of 25-13.“We played really well as a team,” Jackie Zakharin (’18) said. “We were aggressive. Our team chemistry has just gotten better and better throughout the season.” In the third set of the game, Samo only needed one more win in order to achieve the overall win. Atascadero made an attempt to rally and gained the first few points, leading with a score of 3-0, but Samo did not allow this for long. The score jumped from 3-3 to 12-9, and lastly to 25-20 with Samo in the lead.“Even though we started getting down we brought ourselves back up,” Zakharin said. “We pushed points and we got it back.”With that final score, Samo got another victory and the crowds cheered excitedly as the team celebrated making it to the next round of CIF. But now, the Samo team is focusing their attention on the challenges that will come with the other teams they are yet to face.“The next team is going to be a lot better than the one we played today,” Johnson said. “We just have got to stay focused and prepared. We just keep practicing to do so.”Coach Liane Sato knows what the girls need to work on in order to prepare. “I thought the girls played pretty well tonight. We still need to work on a few things at practice tomorrow,” Sato said. “The girls just have to stay focused.”As this is the first round of CIF, the end of the volleyball season is near. The girls are hoping to get as far as they can in order to make this season stand out and to make some good memories for those graduating. And focus seems to be the key for the next game.“I'm sad [that it's coming to an end],” Garland said. “But it's been fun to be a senior on this team, and this season has been great. I'm just excited for the next round and I'm confident we're going to go to the finals.”