The Los Alamitos High girls volleyball team went on a wild run that has lifted them to a 21-8 overall record and a perfect 6-0 through the first half of the Sunset Wave League season. The Griffins capped the first half of the league season with a 19-25, 25-19, 25-17, 22-25, 15-12 win over Corona del Mar last week.
After a back and forth fifth set, Griffin outside hitter Brynn Minter finally closed out the match with a cross-court hit that fell in for the match point. After dropping the first set, the Griffins rallied in the next two to take a 2-1 lead in the match. The win was the 15th in a row for the Griffins, but not much has come easy as many of their wins have come in five-set matches.
“I think we were just kind of moving slow at first, and we had to find a way – once you’re moving slow, it’s kind of hard to pick that back up, – but I think we did a good job of that, in the second and third set,” Minter said.
But CdM was fired up and fought back in the fourth set. The score was close most of the set. The Griffins managed to take a 22-19 win after two misplays by the Sea Kings and a tap down of an overpass by Charlotte Hall. But a long hit by Los Al gave CdM a sideout and they continued with five more points to take the fourth set.
The fifth set was also close, with each team getting runs to extend or close leads. The Griffins eventually took a 12-10 lead, then extended it to 14-11 with a block point by Caitlyn Rother and a kill off the net by Lucy Sanzaro. One point later Minter’s kill ended the match.
The Griffins started league play after a 3-0 loss to Mater Dei, but they opened league with 3-1 wins over Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley. They then had 3-2 wins over Edison and Newport Harbor, both by winning the final three sets after dropping the first two. They then went 7-0 in the Whittier Invitational tournament before getting wins over Marina, Redondo Union and CdM.
The Griffins had a match at Fountain Valley on Tuesday and will play at Edison at 5:45 p.m. today. Their next home match will be Monday at 5:30 p.m. against Newport Harbor.