In the first event in the Peery Family Center, the Girls’ Volleyball team took on crosstown rival Gunn High School. They won the game in dominating fashion winning in straight set and none of them were even close.

The Peery Center was under construction for nearly three years and we were expecting it to be magnificent, but I am not sure anyone was expecting it to look like it did. The facility looked like it belonged to a college.

After two years of playing at Gunn the Lady Vikes were finally able to have a true home game. It also allowed the fans to show up in full force with full energy.

The atmosphere in the new gym was electric the home stands were packed to watch the bitter rivals square off. They may have been disappointed though because it was not much of a contest.

“At first it was very nerve wracking seeing that big crowd. Everyone was cheering super loud and it felt very surreal” Susanna Limb (‘18) said.

The crowd played a huge part in this game as Gunn’s fans were basically quiet, and the players clearly appreciated the Viking fans with all of their cheers and energy. It fueled the team to go out and dominate the Titans.

This was also their first game with their new coach, Daniele Desi. The players on the team really like him and are thankful for him to be coaching them this season. Before coaching at Paly he was an experienced player as well.

He’s an amazing coach and is really helping us step up our game. It makes a huge difference being coached by someone with so much experience playing the sport”. Said junior Mallory Kuppe.

The expectations for the team are high as many of them are returning from varsity the previous year. And the team has a high confidence in themselves to win all the games they can and in a similar fashion as last night.

“We’re a lot more comfortable with each other because we played together before”. Limb said (‘18). “Overall our team is super excited for the season and we can’t wait to dominate the competition”.