With a three-set sweep of Wilson last week, the Millikan girls’ volleyball team shook up the Moore League standings and proved it’s still a four-team race for this year’s championship. The Rams had only beaten the Bruins once in the last decade but topped them at home 25-20, 25-23, 25-22.
The win leaves Lakewood alone in first place with no losses, Poly alone in second with one loss (to Wilson), and puts the Rams and Bruins in a tie for third with two losses. That means there are four teams within striking distance of first place with one week left to go until the halfway point for the league schedule.
“I’m so hyped, I’m so proud of my team,” said Millikan senior Mina Barajas, who led all players with 11 kills in the match. “We fought so hard for this win.”
Rams coach Tan Nguyen said that his number one goal for his team this year has been to bring them to the next level, and he’s done that so far with a five-set loss to Poly, a four-set loss to Lakewood, and then win at home over Wilson.
“We know by now we can compete with those teams, today was about breaking through and winning,” said Nguyen. “We pushed through the errors today, we’ve been breaching about focusing on the next play and they did that today.”
The Rams led wire to wire in the first set, trailed 19-17 in the second set, and 22-20 in the third set, but were able to claim all three with great late-game execution. In addition to Barajas’ big night, Sydney Roberts had eight kills and Kelly McCombs had six.
For Wilson, it was a frustrating result after a win over Poly and a close loss to league-leading Lakewood.
“It’s just hard to gauge at this point,” said Wilson coach Carlos Bricenos. “We talked about being ready to play–there’ve been good crowds this year, and we have to stay calm, we have to find a consistent lineup that can execute.”
Risa Sena led the Bruins with 10 kills while Doris Chuang added five kills.
