Surviving a sudden death 3rd set on September 25, the girls’ volleyball squad beat Miramonte on their home turf.

According to team co-captain Audrey Pak, the Campo Cougars were confident going into the game. They had a better record than Miramonte, and were coming off a winning streak. “We were preparing to play hard and remain undefeated in league,” said Pak.

Sophomore Olivia Knutson said 1 of the first things she noticed upon the team’s arrival at Miramonte was the massive matador mob of over 70 students decked out in dark green. “I think Miramonte really wanted to beat us because they did all they could to distract us,” said Knutson.

The rowdy kids of Miramonte continued to yell and fill the gym with noise every time Campolindo touched the ball. Knuston said, “The noise was really annoying and made it hard to focus at first. But after the 1st few sets, I think we got used to it and weren’t as nervous.”

The team struggled the 1st 2 sets, losing both the 1st and 2nd set 23-25. Sophomore Laura Studebaker wasn’t ready to throw in the towel just then, however. “We lost the 1st two games but anyone can have an on or off set any day. If we just pushed really hard and started off strong, we could easily bounce back,” she said.

The Cougars  fell behind in the 3rd set, 18-24.

After an apparent kill to end the match the Miramonte fans

rushed the court.  Laura Studebaker thought the game was over. “It really sucked when the ball dropped. All I could think about was how we lost to Miramonte in only 3 sets.”

But with a blow of the whistle, the down referee called a “net” on the Matadors, and the point was given to Campolindo. The game wasn’t over yet.

Campolindo’s defensive specialist Brianna Lee went back to serve with the score 19-24. Miramonte fans screamed as she served, but Lee’s focus was pinpoint. “I just kept thinking, ‘I am going to make this serve’ and tried to just tune out the crowd,” said Lee.

Blocking out the Miramonte student section’s attempts to distract them, the team played with renewed fire and took the next 5 points in a row. With the score tied at 24-24, the energy was no longer coming from the Mats, but the Campolindo fans.

Campolindo won the 3rd set 26-24. With this seemingly small victory came the opportunity to play another set.

The team was ecstatic about the comeback. “We ran onto the court jumping and screaming. The Miramonte kids looked so mad but I was so psyched that we managed to keep

going,” said Studebaker.

The 3rd set win ignited the squad, and with renewed confidence, they took the 4th set 25-22. Pak said that they “played harder than ever before” to take Miramonte to a 5th set.

In the 5th set, the Cougars put an exclamation point on the comeback, 15-8.

Senior Aerielle Szeto, who watched the whole game, concluded that “it started out really depressing because it looked like we were loosing, but when we won the 3rd set it got super exciting.”

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