Girls’ volleyball, 46-11, has moved on to the semi-finals of the 2021 CIF LA City Section playoffs and will take on 27-10 El Camino Real High School today. The game will be at 4:00 pm in the Venice gym. 

According to Coach Raul Aviles, El Camino Real is one of the best teams in the LA city section. 

“El Camino Real is a historically good team with a phenomenal coach,” Aviles said. “We have not seen much of them this season but having taken a look at their record and their placement in the West Valley league we know they are having a fantastic season.” 

Senior Logan Takahashi, a captain, said the team isn’t worried about its opponents and will adjust within the first couple of points of the match.  

“They are a good team and have one big hitter,” Takahashi said. “Our game plan is to keep playing consistently and strong while maintaining a balanced offense and tough defense.” 

Takashi also emphasized that the game is just as mental as it is physical, believing that they will be successful if they win the mental game first. 

The Gondoliers will be coming off a blowout victory over Birmingham High School, obliterating them in all three sets (25-9, 25-16, and 25-8, respectively). 

“Having played Birmingham in tournaments during the season, we had an idea of how they were going to play,” Aviles said. “We reviewed things we did well in the past against them and executed a good game plan.” 

Takahashi thought the team’s consistent serve and serve-receive and energy created in the gym fueled their win over Birmingham. 

The whole Venice campus experienced a blackout that day, but the team didn’t let it hinder their performance last Wednesday. 

“The blackout was certainly a surprise,” Aviles said. “However we have one of the best gyms in our section and there remained enough light in the gym to continue the match safely.” 

“At times the buzzer would go off and scare us,” Takahashi said. “But no matter the circumstance, we never let outside factors disrupt the way we play.”