The Polytechnic High School Panthers beat the Tigers after an intense game.
Story by Maxine Messineo
Staff Writer
Photos by Sam Allen
Staff Photographer
Girls’ volleyball played the Polytechnic High School Panthers on Wednesday, Aug. 19 in an exciting and captivating game. The Panthers eventually beat the Tigers with a final score of 3–1.
The starting lineup for the first set consisted of senior opposite Evan Taylor, senior libero Ella Garner, junior middle blocker Stella Sheng, senior outside hitters Samantha Kim and Bella Ventura, and sophomore outside hitter Caitlin Watson.
Ventura and Taylor started the game off strong in the first set with 24 points from Ventura and 16 assists from Taylor throughout the game.
Within the first few minutes of the game, Kim, Taylor, and junior defense specialist Kayla Yau were scoring points left and right.
With the Panthers leading 19–16, the Tigers called a timeout, their first of two called within the first set.
After the timeout, Kim scored several points for the Tigers. Also, Garner consistently passed to Taylor, who set Ventura up for a kill.
Soon after the game resumed, the Tigers hastily called their second timeout of the set, still trailing 25–24. After the timeout, the Tigers were unable to bounce back and gain points, so the Panthers won the first set against the Tigers, 26–24.
Yau quickly passed to Taylor who scored the first point of the second set. Soon after, freshman outside hitter Julia Garibyan was substituted out for Sanchez, and Sheng was set up for a kill.
Throughout the second set, players were being substituted constantly. Senior middle blocker Melody Chavarria stepped foot on the court for the first time in the game, taking Sheng’s place on the court.
The Tigers called a timeout with the Panthers leading 12–8. After some points scored by Garibyan and Ventura, Taylor doubled, or touched the ball with both hands at different times while setting, which gave the Panthers an easy point.
Towards the end of the set, Tigers missed four serves in a row. Eventually, the second set ended with the Panthers winning, 25–20.
Sheng quickly scored against the Panthers by blocking her opponent’s hit at the net in the third set. The Tigers followed the trend of starting strong, and just needed to carry it into the later half of the set, staying motivated and focused.
Ventura and Kim soon scored, gaining the Tigers several points before they called their fourth timeout of the game trailing behind the Panthers, 13–10.
Throughout the third set, Garner displayed excellent defense, diving for the touch ball on each ball to prevent the Panthers from gaining more points. Meanwhile, the Panthers had several missteps, allowing the Tigers to gain points,until the score was tied, 20–20.
Towards the end of the set, the Panthers called their first timeout of the game with the Tigers leading 23–20. The Tigers eventually won the third set, 25–23.
In the fourth set, the Tigers were up 10–8 after Ventura scored several points via a series of spikes and errors on the Panthers’ side.
The Tigers called a timeout, their first of the fourth set, losing 20-17. However, after the Panthers scored three points in succession, the Tigers called yet another timeout, now behind at 23-17.
After the first timeout of the fourth set, the Tigers were unable to score against the Panthers, losing the fourth set 25–17 and the match 3–1.
Girls’ volleyball played their next game on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026 against the San Luis Obispo High School Tigers at 9:30 a.m.
