By Riley Segal
Staff Writer
Photos by Matthew Scholtz
The girls’ volleyball team swept Temple City in three sets on Thursday, October 1, on the road by scores of 25-13, 25-10, and 25-16 in the Tigers’ Rio Hondo League opener. The Rams were no match for the Tigers’ powerful hits, which were constant throughout the game, and led to South Pas breaking their previous record for number of hits in a game.
The first set started evenly until the Tigers managed to break away from the close score. Junior Molly Feldmeth then went on a lengthy serving streak with multiple aces before the Rams were able to regain possession at a score of 15-7. Several strong hits were seen from Feldmeth, junior Kate Kutzer, and senior Taleen Mitchell. Though Temple City was able to gain a few points from serves throughout the set, the Tigers made up for the loss of points with kills from Kutzer and Mitchell. Mitchell also had multiple aces before the set ended at 25-13.
The Rams opened the second set with a kill, but the Tigers managed to pull ahead with a kill, then an ace from Mitchell. Temple City often hit balls out-of-bounds or into the net, and South Pas capitalized on those easy points by continuing to widen the gap. Feldmeth, Kutzer, and Mitchell continued to have numerous kills, and junior Madison Hirano provided the Tigers a solid defensive performance. Senior Kate Sokolow had an ace, followed by two consecutive Kutzer kills. The set finished with a score of 25-10 in the Tigers’ favor.
Temple City opened the third set with another kill, but again South Pas was able to jump in front and gain a substantial lead. The set was similar to the previous two, with several kills from the Tigers. However, the Rams were able to ace the Tigers a few times before the Tigers rebounded. Once the Tigers reached 24 points, Temple City was able to score a few more points before South Pas could gain the one point it needed to end the match on a Kutzer kill. The set concluded with a score of 25-16, the Rams’ highest score of the game.
“Temple City was a stronger team than we thought they would be, but we were still able to execute really well,” Feldmeth said. “Even though they’re not necessarily tough competition, this is a good start to league and I think we’re going to perform really well in the games to come.”
The Tigers’ face off against rival San Marino High School at home on Tuesday, October 6, where they hope to remain undefeated in league. Their league record is 1-0 and their overall record stands at 8-1.
