SVHS Volleyball: Trojans choose sides wisely

YERMO • There was just something about the west end of Charlie Hawkins Gymnasium that wasn’t jiving with the Silver Valley High School volleyball team.

Fortunately for them, they won all three games on the east side of the gym in a 3-2 win against Apple Valley Christian on Tuesday afternoon. The Trojans won in games one, three and five, going 25-20, 18-25, 25-13, 17-25 and 15-8.

Although she couldn’t explain why, Silver Valley coach Diana Sandridge noticed her team talked less and
performed worse throughout the night on the west end of the gym.

“We didn’t like that side ... obviously,” Sandridge said with a laugh. “When we went on that side I could tell they didn’t like that side, and we weren’t working like we were.”

Things started to go downhill midway through the second game for the Trojans. Silver Valley went ahead 9-7, but it was the last time they’d hold a lead while playing on the west side. It got even worse in the fourth game when the Trojans faltered early. Apple Valley Christian began the game with a 0-3 lead and never surrendered that margin.

So when the Trojans won the coin toss for the decisive fifth game, Sandridge made an unusual decision.
She made the call to chose which end they’d play on rather than taking position of the ball.

“Most of the time everybody picks serve,” Sandridge said. “We wanted side because they were much more pumped up on that side.”

The move paid off. Apple Valley Christian’s first serve went out of bounds and the Trojans quickly built up a 7-1 lead. Apple Valley Christian narrowed the score to 9-6 at one point, but that’s as close as they would get. Alannah Castro closed out the game with an ace, one of five she earned during the match.

The Trojans got back to talking and made better passes to the setter in that fifth game, Sandridge said.
“I’ve never had it had where it was one side or another,” she said. “For some reason — I don’t know why — they didn’t like that side. They obviously came through on that side. I usually don’t have that case, but I got to play with what they are doing that day. What was working for them was to play that side.”

Alejandra Rodriguez lead the team with six aces and also had seven kills. Brenna Foster lead with nine kills, Ashley Smith notched seven assists and Amitra Pitre had four aces and three kills.

The Trojans were coming off a second place finish at the Trona Tournament on Saturday. The Trojans fell to Baker 24-26 in the championship game. Rodriguez was named MVP setter for the tournament and teammates Castro, Jessica Negin, Brenna Foster and Kanetia Cotton were named to the all-tournament team. Baker previously beat the Trojans in five games to open the season on Thursday in Yermo.

Fundraiser
The Trojans will be hosting a team fundraiser from 3 p.m. to closing today at the Chili’s Bar & Grill in Lenwood. Anyone interested can sign up inside the restaurant and the team will get 10% of the cost of the meal.

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4124 or
mpeters@desertdispatch.com