Sophomore and opposite hitter Enaya Vaielua scored the game winning point to shut out Cerritos 25-19, 25-20, 25-23 as the Vikings women’s volleyball team celebrated sophomore night on Wednesday.
“It was amazing. I think that was even better is the fans that were here and the families. I think this is a huge testament to go with what they have been doing. They were the sophomores that were with us when we were 3-16. They were the first sophomores that came after that season, and they changed everything around,” head coach Tyler Jackson said.
The Vikings are now the number one seed in the South Coast Conference with a record of 6-1 in the conference and ended the regular season undefeated at home.
Vaielua was not the only sophomore to be honored as the team also honored about eight more teammates who were honored with a framed jersey and flower leis from their families.
“It was very special, honestly I didn’t think I would make it this far. It’s crazy that I’m here, I’m making big moves for myself and not only for myself but for my family,” outside hitter Ryannah Gagau said.
The Vikings also honored the sophomores on the Cerritos team by handing each of them roses before the game started.
In the first set Vaielua scored the first point of the game to start the team off as the Vikings took the set 25-19.
As for the defense, both teams seemed to lack communication at times which led to multiple lead changes.
“The team can work when we are up like 16-10 keeping the lead, we get a little too relaxed and comfortable and we just start making unforced errors,” Jackson said.
The second set saw Cerritos amending to take advantage of the defensive mistakes that the Vikings made but ended up failing as the Vikings were still able to win the set 25-20.
Cerritos did not make the third set easy for the Vikings and there were multiple times where the set was tied but the Vikings were able to win the set 25-23 as Middle blocker Jubilee Allen and Enaya Vaielua the last points the Vikings needed to win the game.
“Me playing back row, it was just get the pass for them and being able to have my setter set the ball and have my hitters bang it away,” outside hitter Danika Iosua said on strategies going into the game.
The Vikings will play round one of the SoCal regionals on Nov. 23. The location is still to be determined.