This past weekend, Aug. 27-29, the San Dieguito Academy Girls Volleyball team trekked out to Las Vegas to play in the Las Vegas Invitational. From the very beginning, , the girls had a target on their back since we were ranked first overall followinglast year’s second-place finish in the tournament

The first day of game play, Friday, went smoothly for the Mustangs. Going undefeated, 3-0, the girls were feeling confident but not cocky.

On Saturday, a pool of four teams played to see which bracket they would be placed into. Only the teams finishing first in their pool would have a chance to win. The day went as well as the day before. The Mustangs were now 6-0 and headed into the gold bracket, consisting of the top teams.

Heading to the semi-final round, they faced Carson High School, a local team from Nevada. The match against Carson started the same as all the others with the Mustangs easily dealing with the Senators in game one. However as game two came around, the Senators took a lead in the middle. Leading 19-14, the Mustangs were put to the test. After siding-out for 15 points, Junior, Kiani Kerstetter was up to serve. Serving six unanswered points, the Mustangs were back in the lead and ready to put the Senators away. With a few more points by each team, the Mustangs were in the finals.

In the finals for a second year in a row, the Mustangs knew what had to be done to get the first place trophy they yearned for. The finals game was set to be played against Ramona High School, a fellow southern California team from Ramona which the Mustangs knew well. The Ramona Rams started, winning the first game of the match and marking the Mustang’s first game loss of the season. However, it was not over yet. Another game was yet to be played and San Dieguito’s mental toughness was put to the test.

Coming from behind once again, as they did against the Carson Senators, the Mustangs fought in game two from a deficit and won. With a 1-1 game tie, the match was pushed to a third set. Winningthe coin toss, San Dieguito decided to serve first. Ramona chose to flip sides, a strategic choice teams used to try to mess with their opponent and get them out of their groove.

The whistle blew to start game three, which is to 15 points instead of the usual 25, and the Mustangs took an early lead. But as all volleyball players know, momentum can change and it did as the Rams fought back to tie the game at 9-9. After a long struggle to get the ball back in order to be on offense, the Mustangs finally were able to. With sets to sophomore Sarah Colla and senior Emily Kimball, the ball was put away play after play, the Mustangs saw the win ahead of them. Keeping calm when the Rams happened to side-out for 10 and then get one point to get them to 11, San Dieguito got the ball back without letting Ramona get a lot of points.

Only three points left for the Mustangs and senior, Megan Scherer was up to serve. San Dieguito scored two points back to back and had the game point in the finals match. The ball was tossed in the air as Scherer approached for the serve, the gym quiet with anticipation. The Mustang sideline, hand in hand, united and supporting each other, watched the ball hit Scherer’s hand and flew towardthe net. The ball hit the top ofthenet and trickled over, an ace on game point. “Time felt like it had stopped,” said junior Savannah Casey.

The Mustangs stormed the court jumping on each other with excitement. After shaking hands with Ramona, millions of pictures were taken and three awards were given out. Seniors Megan Scherer and Lindsey King earned a spot on the all-tournament team while senior Emily Kimball was named MVP of the tournament. Kimball was also named The Union-Tribune’s Prep Athlete of the Week for volleyball.

Undefeated, the Mustangs headed home with a 1st place trophy in hand, ready for their first home game of the season. Facing Rancho Bernardo on Wednesday, September 9th, the Freshman and JV play at 3:30 and Varsity plays at 5 p.m.