Grossmont Hills League play hasn’t started yet among East County’s collection of girls volleyball teams but the Santana High School Lady Sultans appear to have served notice they will be a team to contend with for this year’s league title and playoff seeding.
The Lady Sultans wrapped up a 9-1 finish in last year’s Grossmont Valley League standings, 22-8 overall, before embarking on a highly decorated road in the post season playoffs that included a runner-up finish in the Division III section finals and two rounds deep in the state regional playoffs.
Santana is off to a smartly played 11-3 start in 2025. The prospects for another highly successful season look good, according to 10th-year SHS head coach Tim Cook.
“We’re getting new additions who play club volleyball,” Cook said.
“Everyone on our team has played club, so new players (to high school) are coming in with experience.”
That’s pretty much the formula throughout the section: the quality of play overall is getting better.
The Lady Sultans won the Division IV section title in 2021, so the team continues to play at a high level. It will need to do that in moving up to the Division II level this season.
Team leaders include senior Brooklynn Draheim with 126 kills and 31 serving aces, sophomore Allyson Russell with 40 blocks, senior Vanessa Ryan with 126 digs and senior Madison Fortuna with 223 assists.
Draheim is runner-up on the team with 114 digs.
Who are the front-runners in the Grossmont Hills League besides Santana? El Capitan is off to a 17-8 start while Granite Hills entered the week 9-6 in non-league play, Valhalla was 5-7 and Helix was 1-11.
Santana opens league play Sept. 23 at Granite Hills and hosts Valhalla on Sept. 25. The section playoffs are scheduled Oct. 29 to Nov. 9.
Top teams from the Grossmont Valley League so far this season include Mt. Miguel at 6-2, Grossmont at 12-8, Steele Canyon at 5-5, Monte Vista at 5-7, El Cajon Valley at 3-10 and West Hills at 3-13.
Steele Canyon matched Santana with a 9-1 league record atop last year’s GVL standings.
Heavy hitters
Team leaders for Grossmont include senior Alexis Holman with 262 kills, freshman Sofia Reid with 142 kills, sophomore Imani Hayes with 42 aces, senior Charlotte Leininger with 43 blocks, junior Ciarrah Toliente with 198 digs, Holman with 132 digs and 378 assists from sophomore Mila Moyer.
