Girls’ volleyball 32-10 overall, takes on Palisades tonight at South West College in the CIF Open Division L.A. City Championships.
In the upcoming match against the Palisades Dolphins, 34-7 overall, seniors Gaia Adeseun-Williams, a senior, and Samantha Lortie, a senior, said the team is confident going against Palisades.
“I don’t think we’re really worried. I think we’re more out for vengeance,” said Williams
The Gondoliers have won three out of the four matches against Palisades this year.
“Being able to play them again when it really matters is important, because we can take what we’ve had throughout this season,” she said. “But ultimately this game is what it comes down to—there’s the most pressure, and it’s where it really matters the most.”
In terms of facing teams in the playoffs, the girls have “confidence in ourselves that we’re gonna play well and perform,” said Williams.
The team’s redemption showed in their most recent match against El Camino Real Royals. The Gondoliers won against the El Camino Real Royals, 22-14 overall, this past Tuesday 3-1.
“It showed that we can really compete and win the championship, and it just gave us a lot of confidence,” said Williams.
Aside from gaining confidence as a team in their match against the Royals, Lortie said, “this game prepared us really well, too, because, like, Gaia said,we were one and one with El Camino, so getting that win really showed our resilience.”
Despite starting the beginning of the season, which Williams described as “rocky and divided,” the team has since changed towards playing more cohesively.
The Gondoliers’ most recent focus has been improving their skills when it comes to serving and paying attention to the small details.
“We’re just way more controlled, and we make way less errors, and we’re able to play the game more instead of making simple mistakes that kind of end each game,” Williams said.
Last year, the team lost in the finals against the Bishop Diego Cardinals 3-1. Williams said that this team has used this loss as “motivation.” The Gondoliers are “just focusing on playing our game, and supporting each other.”
