The Paly girls volleyball team was defeated in a 3-1 match against the Valley Christian warriors Thursday night at Gunn High School.

The Lady Vikes lost the first point in the first set, which set the tone for the next two sets. The team took its first timeout at 9-3, Valley Christian in the lead. After an attempt to redeem the team with Isabella Marcus’ (‘18) excellent blocking, Paly took another timeout with Valley Christian still leading 19-11. After back-to-back serving from each team, Valley Christian won the first set 25-18.

“We sometimes did not play as a team but as individuals during the game,” Cassie Fong (‘17) said. “Our missed serves and hitting errors really hurt us and we could have done a better job of mixing up our shots.”

The second set began and Valley Christian took the lead right from the start, the score starting 3-0. After a few hard fought points, Paly took a timeout with the Warriors leading 19-11. The Vikings had a sudden comeback after the timeout with Fong serving, and almost caught up to the warriors with a score of 17-16 Valley Christian. The set ended 25-18 Valley Christian.

The third set began with Katie Passarello (‘17) serving for the Vikings, and after serious back-and-forth points, the Vikings finally took the lead 10-8. With the Vikings leading 19-12, Valley Christian takes a timeout. With the score narrowing in on 25, Paly wins their first set of the match 25-21.

“We are looking to work better together as a team, and since this is the beginning of the season, it can be hard since some players have never played together before, but we plan to become better at that,” Fiona Green (‘17) said. “We also want to become a more consistent team overall, mentally and playing wise.”

In the fourth set of the match, the teams were constantly back and forth with a starting score of 14-13 Vikings. After a few more back and fourth points the game was tied at 19 with Green serving. With the game tied again at 21, Valley Christian went ahead and took the lead, winning the game 25-22 and the match 3-1.

“We… need to remain focused and fight throughout the match, which would allow us to get leads earlier on,” Green said.

The girls volleyball team will take on their next opponent, Saint Francis on Thursday, September 8 at Saint Francis High School at 6:30.

“Our overall goal is to work extremely hard, to win league, to go far in CCS, and hopefully get to NorCals,” Coach Jekara Wilson said.