By Demetria Ma
Girls volleyball played fiercely against rival Los Alamitos at the home gym but lost to the leading Sunset League team for the second time on Tuesday.
The frosh-soph and JV teams both lost 0-2, while Varsity lost 0-3, scoring 17-25, 23-25, and 21-25 in each respective game.
What is dubbed as the “bell game of volleyball,” the Lady Barons were supported by the FV Loud Crowd in the packed stands that fought to cheer louder than those from Los Alamitos, who wore custom-made black t-shirts for the game.
Three weeks ago at their first League game of the season, girls volleyball played away against Los Alamitos. During the varsity game, setter Shayna Johnson (’14) dove for a ball by the stands that were filled with Los Al’s loud crowd.
Claims were made that Johnson was kicked by the Los Al student during the incident.
“As I was laying on the floor, a Los Al student charged at me [and got] in my face and [screamed] ‘You suck!’ and his foot accidentally hit my back,” recounted Johnson.
“He didn’t actually swing his food back and kick me like everyone is making it sound. But everyone turned it into a joke saying I got kicked in the face and stuff. It was a crazy start to a beautiful rivalry.”
Immediately following the game, an angry explosion erupted on Twitter that night with students and players from FV tweeting their outrage and disbelief with the trending hashtag, #losalhitsgirls. Los Alamitos students fired back with the hashtag #stillwinning, which were then printed on the shirts they wore to Tuesday’s game.
Word spread to ASB and the rest of the school that the Los Al Griffins were soon becoming as big a rival as the Chargers. ASB organized the home game rematch as a “white out” game to counter the Griffins’ black attire.
“The Los Al crowd was extremely organized and in sync…it was rather intimidating at times. I understand they have school pride, but their behavior was a bit over the top,” said ASB officer Valerie Chang. “I was very proud of our [FV] loud crowd; we had a great turnout and an unwavering spirit despite the yells of Los Al’s loud crowd.”
The varsity girls made aggressive plays and fought the Griffins point-for-point in each set, despite the constant cheering from the stands.
Despite the power of Los Al’s strong hitters, front row blockers made several blocks and touches that allowed libero Ari Jacobsen (’15) to make easier passes to setters Johnson and Liz Byrnes (’15).
Outside hitters Samira Escobar (’14) and Laney Ehlers (’14) made several kills that were led by consistent assists from Johnson.
“[The game] was awesome. The loud crowd made it so exciting and fun,” said varsity player Noelle Hillman (’15). “Even though we lost, each game could have gone either way. We played great and gave them a challenge.”
The lady Barons will be playing at home again on Thursday, Oct. 24 in their next game against Huntington Beach.
Photos by Ashley Le and Tue Duong
