Paly volleyball defeated Gunn in three sets on Thursday night. In its previous matchup against the Titans in the league opener, Paly lost in three sets.

Coach Daniele Desiderio saw the development of the team from the start of the season.

“We panicked a little bit when we were there because they play a good game,” Desiderio said. “Right now, at the end of the season, you always see if you have improvements or not.”

Captain Jade Schoenberger (‘15) was more than satisfied with her team’s performance.

“The game was awesome,” Schoenberger said. “I loved it. It was great competition and we performed the best we have this season.”

In the first set, Paly won the first point. The Vikings got a 5-4 lead when Schoenberger blocked a Titan hit and the ball fell back onto the Titan side of the court. The Titans took the lead 11-9, but the Vikings quickly tied the game with a hit from Schoenberger. From there, The Vikings did not lose the lead. In the final points of the set, a series of digs by Kabria Dame (‘15) kept the Vikings on top and the set ended 25-22 on another strong block from the Paly team.

Paly was strong the second set and gained an early lead of 4-3. Schoenberger had a series of aces that put the Vikings ahead 18-10. The Vikings continued scoring and had their biggest lead of the game 20-11. Captain Anna Dukovic (‘15) contributed to the final few points of the set, and Schoenberger had the winning hit to end the set 25-17.

The third and final set consisted of Paly taking the lead and Gunn tying the score back up. The early 3-2 lead was never lost, and Dukovic again had significant hits late in the set to put the Vikings up 24-19. Schoenberger had the final point of the game after the Titans could not handle the serve, and the set ended 25-19.

The win meant a lot for the team since it was Senior Night.

“This was a big game,” Schoenberger said. “Especially due to the fact that it was Senior Night, everyone wants to win. It’s the last time that we’re most likely going to play in our home gym, so it was just really exciting.”

Jessica Lee (‘17) contributes the enthusiasm of the fans as helpful to the team’s success.

“I think really having all the fans come and cheer us on really gave us more energy and we played better,” Lee said.

Coach Daniele Desiderio saw the drive that the team had to play well.

“It was probably our best match of the season,” Desiderio said. “I knew they wanted to play that strong. Sometimes you want to do it and you cannot do it, but tonight we really did great.”

As the team moves on to Central Coast Section (CCS) playoffs, they are focusing on keeping up the good play.

“Hopefully we can press forward in CCS and just keep winning,” Schoenberger said.