The Ventura High School girls varsity volleyball team took a close win on Thursday, Sept. 27 at home during their fourth league match of the season.

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Before the game, volleyball coach Debbie Litton said, “We played Rio Mesa [once before this year] and we lost to them in five sets at Rio Mesa. That’s our only league loss right now. So it’s important for us that we win tonight, especially going into the second round [of league finals]. The potential to win tonight would put us in good standing with only three more games left with Buena, Oxnard and Pacifica.”

“We lost a key player at the beginning of the year due to injury,” said Litton, referencing former varsity captain senior Mary Sinclair. “We’ve had to have the girls really step up. We’re tied for first in league, and we have a 13-6 overall record, so this is now into the second round of league play.”

Sophomore Nevada Knowles (number 14) had the kill to take the first set for the Cougars, the score ending at 25-23. Kills from junior Gabby Sheldon (number three) and senior Tatum Teel (number five) also contributed in the Cougars taking the 1-0 lead.

The second set started out close: Sheldon had a kill that went long, putting Rio Mesa up 1-0, but the Cougars tied it up in the next play with a tip over the front row. Three of the Spartans balls that were hit out of bounds tied up the game 5-5. The Spartans fought back by rallying for the lead, making the score 10-8. Knowles gave a back set assist which gave the ball to senior Olivia Monarres (number 12), that tied the game 11-11. Ventura fought for the set against Rio Mesa, but unfortunately the Spartans took the second set.

The matchup ended up going to five games. In the fifth set, Knowles came up first to serve and took four points for the Cougars setting the score to 4-0 in the set. After this, Rio Mesa called a timeout. The Cougars finished off the set with a score of 15-5 to defeat Rio Mesa in five games for their fourth league match.

When asked on what she thinks the team’s overall strengths are, Litton said, “I think we have very good ball control. A lot of teams have said that. We’re definitely a little bit shorter than [the team has] been in the past, but our ball control is very good so we play well in defense and we keep the ball in play quite a bit. Our game plan is to outwork the opponent and try to have very few unforced errors.”

Be sure to follow up on girls volleyball in the future, as they are currently leading the Pacific View League with a record of 6-1 with a four game win streak.