Girls’ beach volleyball sets up for a good year
Claudia Sherman, Center Spread Co-editor
On Thursday, Oct. 22, the Samo girls’ varsity beach volleyball team played against Palos Verdes High School. In what ended up being a very close game, Samo lost 0-3.
Regardless of the most recent loss, beach volleyball has had a very exciting season. It is a relatively new addition to the Samo sports repertoire, and is in its first season as a CIF certified sport. Coach Liane Sato could not be more pleased to see the program gain more traction.
“We are so excited to have our first official CIF beach volleyball program started and supported by Santa Monica High School and the district. We’re so excited–we’ve been waiting for this for a long time, and we’re just trying to build our program.” Sato said.
This game’s standout duo: Sophia Cooper (’22) and Catrina Zolkin (’23), defeated Palos Verdes in one doubles match by 10-4. The two seem perfectly attuned to each other’s playing styles, strengths and weaknesses, and are a very strong force.
Although the team did not win this game, the team members are all determined to learn from their mistakes, and successes, and have pinpointed ways that they can strengthen their game.
“We definitely played better in the second set than in the first set…I feel like we could’ve come out stronger. I think if we’d been playing the whole game like we’d played this last set, we would’ve won.” (girl Bibi was playing with) said.
This recent defeat has not completely disheartened the varsity girls, who are working to improve their overall performance in the upcoming games.
On March 23, the Samo and Redondo girls’ beach volleyball teams faced off a little ways from campus at the Ocean Park beach courts. The battle was hard-fought, but Redondo ended up taking a sweeping win; none of Samo’s varsity teams were able to win a game, marking the fourth loss for Samo in League. Samo will face Redondo for a rematch today, March 31, at an away game at the Manhattan Beach Pier for their last game of the season. Go Vikings!
Emily Umana (’25) dives to save the ball from hitting the sand in a tight match against Palos Verdes High School.