The Santana High School boys volleyball team turned in a history-making achievement by capturing the school’s first San Diego Section championship in the sport by defeating the Bonita Vista Barons in last May’s Division III finals at Canyon Crest Academy.
Fast-forward six months later and the school’s girls volleyball team is searching not only to land a berth in the Division III playoff field but excel.
The Santana High School boys volleyball team turned in a history-making achievement by capturing the school’s first San Diego Section championship in the sport by defeating the Bonita Vista Barons in last May’s Division III finals at Canyon Crest Academy.
Fast-forward six months later and the school’s girls volleyball team is searching not only to land a berth in the Division III playoff field but excel.
The Lady Sultans recently competed in the fifth annual Mustangs/South Bay Invitational at Otay Ranch High School. Santana finished 3-3 in its six games to improve to 4-9 on the season—all in non-league competition.
SHS coach Karen Adams said her team’s focus in the early stages of the season is on continued development.
“We’ve got to work hard, play together as a team, learn during all the different plays and see what the outcome will be,” she said. “We have some players who are returning and we have some new players. We’re still learning. Even our experienced players are still learning.”
After dropping pool matches to Otay Ranch, Tri-City Christian and San Gabriel Mission in the opening day of tournament competition on Sept. 19, Santana bounced back the next day with bracket wins against Chula Vista (25-15, 25-13), Sweetwater (25-17, 29-31, 15-8) and San Gabriel (26-24, 14-25, 15-13).
Early season leaders for the Lady Sultans include senior Lesley Lewis with 63 kills, senior Ashley Lopez with 21 aces, senior Gretchen Hudson with nine blocks, sophomore Morgan Turner with 75 digs and sophomore Jamie Shively with 92 assists.
Santana opens Grossmont Valley League play Oct. 6 with a home match against El Cajon Valley. Other league opponents include Mt. Miguel, El Capitan, Monte Vista and Helix.
League play wraps up Nov. 5 prior to the start of the section playoffs. The Grossmont Valley League champion receives an automatic entry in the division playoffs.
