With a come from behind win over Valley Christian on November 28, the girls’ volleyball team claimed the NorCal tournament title, advancing to the CIF state championship held at Concordia University in Irvine on Saturday, December 1.
Valley Christian won the first match 25-20, but the Cougars rallied to take the next three matches for the win.
“Before the game we kept emphasizing how much each person contributes to the team and how important we all are to each other. We had nothing to lose so we needed to give it our best,” said senior captain Sophie Seiberth. The NorCal victory landed the squad in the state championship game for the second time since 2010.
Junior defensive specialist Natalie Meniktas said, “During the game I was thinking ‘this is crazy’, but now we are going to state. We put so much effort into this and since we have gotten this far we might as well put it all out there.” According to Meniktas the team’s hard work brought them together.
Heading into the CIF competition, the team was not able to do their pregame ritual of eating, dancing and singing at the Wirth residence due to travel. In fact, the players missed school on Friday to make the trek to Southern California for Saturday’s showdown with San Diego Cathedral, who has won state 4 out of the 5 times they have played in the championship game. It’s the longest trip the team made this season.
Seiberth said, “It’s a different gym and there probably won’t be a lot of Campo fans cheering us on and helping us win, but we are good at adjusting.”