This past Friday, on Oct. 17, the Girls Varsity Volleyball team lost their home game against league rival Del Norte, a hard-fought three sets to zero. The Mustangs were spurred on by a fairly large student section, which included the JV Girls Volleyball team and many members of the Stang Gang.

This is the first year that Del Norte has been in the same league as SDA. For the past two years, the SDA Girls Varsity Volleyball team has won league, and many players see Del Norte now as their biggest competition for the championship.

The first set opened by a four-point run from Del Norte. However, the Mustangs soon found their rhythm about half way in when they began to consistently and strongly return hits. Ultimately, Del Norte was able clinch several of the long rallies towards the end, closing the set at 17-25.

Upon switching sides and returning to the court, the Mustangs played with a renewed fervor. “The crowd is a big part of the energy,” said senior Sarah Hyndman. “When they get super excited about a play, we notice in on the court. I think they keep people from getting mental.”

Right away, the Mustangs began meeting Del Norte’s shots this time with impressive kills of their own. Although several returns landed out of bounds, SDA was also able to block Del Norte up front much more frequently than before. Del Norte managed to maintain their slight lead, which at times was as small as a one point difference, throughout the set. The score ended at 21-25.

SDA needed to win the third set to stay alive, and the drive showed through early on in their playing. For the first time that game, the Mustangs opened with the lead.

“I think our team did really well at staying mentally strong and not giving up,” said senior and team captain Karina Langli. “We stayed aggressive.” The score tied up at 9-9 and again at 10-10.

From here, Del Norte kicked things into gear, and was able to find a sweet spot by targeting the outside of the court. “There were times that we couldn’t side out fast enough, and that cost us the game,” said Langli.

Despite another dominant run by the Mustangs towards the end, the final set finished at 14-25.

In looking towards the Mustang’s next game, senior Leah McManus said, “We still have a chance at league, so we need to have a positive mindset and strive to use that game as momentum to finish strong.”

“I think our team still needs to minimize our errors, to let them make the mistakes,” said Hyndman. “We just need to focus on continuing to get better and playing our game.”

The Mustangs will be playing their next game this Tuesday against University City at 6:00 p.m. in the SDA gym.