Taft’s Varsity Volleyball Lady Wildcats played Arvin High school on the week of October 12th, resulting in a win. The teams played the best 3 out 5 sets and the Wildcats won 3-0 with scores of 24-14, 25-20, and 25-15. Taft made some great plays on Arvin and wisely placed the ball in open spots on the court. The girls ran a quicker offense, which made it more difficult for the opponent to obtain any blocks.

Knowing Arvin was one of their bigger rivals, the girls played smart by placing tips and spikes behind or in front of the big blocks or in the left and right deep corners where Arvin was not playing defensively. The first set was a good start for the Wildcats ending in score of 24-14. The second set was a little closer in scores of 25-20 when the Taft girls started to feel a bit overly confident and continued to give Arvin free points because of their own mistakes. They gave up free points only when making self-inflicted errors until they realized the scores were getting too close and they needed to step it up. The Wildcats still took the win in the second set and they pulled it together and played better for the third match. On the final match of 5, the Wildcats took better control of the ball and they finally played their game in just the right amount of confidence to win. They took home a win for their school. The Bears were intimidated by the Wildcats, for Arvin usually places more blocks or spikes on Taft’s court. Luckily, Taft traveled to Arvin prepared to cover blocks and make smarter decisions on plays.  #8 Sarah Lopez spiked a total of 16 kills while #18 Brooklyn Yaws had 4 total kills.  #4 Alyssa Reeves had 5 kills and Taft’s #5 Hunter Everson, an outside hitter, was set by #11 Chaydin Garcia, killed the ball 8 times. Adding with Everson’s 8 kills, #13 Cherise Strong captured 2 kills, allowing Taft more points due to their smart plays. Lastly, outside hitter Morgan Pulido #12, also Labero, got a kill on Arvin as well. The Wildcats played very well overall as a team and they took home another win.

Taft’s Varsity Volleyball Lady Wildcats also played Shafter High school on October 19th. The Lady Cats took home a win against the Generals. The teams played the best 3 out 5 sets and the Wildcats won 3-0 with scores of 25-11, 25-19, and 25-16 for each match. Although the Generals were “scrappy” and chased most everything down, the Wildcats still came out strong and captured the win overall. Taft had made some great attacks on Shafter and played wisely when placing the ball in their open spots on the court. The girls played smart by placing tips, spikes, and rolls just behind the blocks or in the left and right deep corners where Shafter was not playing defensively. The first set was a domination for the Wildcats. The second set was a little closer in scores of 25-19 when the Taft girls may have gotten a little “over their heads” and continued to give Shafter free, valuable points. They gave up free points only when making self-inflicted errors by getting stuck in one rotation in serve receive, when they did not communicate over the ball, when the girls did not play wisely in placing the ball, or when they made hitting errors. The Wildcats still took the win in the second set and they played a slightly better game for match ⅗. On the final match of 5, the Wildcats planned to take better control of the ball when passing or hitting before they yelled a chant and ‘broke’ to start the set. The girls were determined to win this match and take home the “W” for their school. #8  Sarah Lopez spiked a total of 11 kills that gained Taft 11 more points throughout the matches.. #18 Brooklyn Yaws had 4 total kills while #4 Alyssa Reeves had 6, which helped accelerate the score 10 points. Taft’s #5 Hunter Everson, an outside hitter, was set by #11 Chaydin Garcia, who also conquered a great kill; Hunter killed the ball 7 times. Adding with Everson’s 7 kills, #13 Cherise Strong captured 5 kills, allowing Taft 12 points. Lastly, Morgan Pulido #12, also labero, got a kill on Shafter as well. The Wildcats played very well overall as they took another win home.