Piedmont High School’s girls volleyball team had a successful weekend, winning its bracket at the Stockton Classic on Aug. 22.
The Highlanders went 4-0 at the tournament, defeating Manteca 25-20, 25-20 to take their bracket at Edison High School.
“The theme for the weekend was growth and resiliance,” coach Mike Glass said. “From the sideline we could see them getting better, we could see them learning and growing.”
Glass was especially happy that his team rebounded after losing the first set in two of its matches. Piedmont opened up with a 25-18, 25-7 over Will C. Wood-Vacaville, then dropped the opener against Lathrop, 13-25.
“It’s great to win but it’s also great to see them improve,” Glass said. “(There were) a bunch of errors all based off the pressure the other team was putting on them. They adjusted, turned it around, and won decisively in the second and third.”
The Highlanders won the next two sets, 25-7, 15-9.
In the semifinals, Piedmont again fell behind, this time to host Edison.
“I think Edison was really, really interesting,” Glass said. “We lost the first set 13-25, but it really wasn’t that close. They were putting pressure on us by driving the ball into the corners, playing really scrappy volleyball. The turning point was when the team made some defensive adjustments to counter that. Allyson Huynh was pushing for that change. Rather than being out of control diving for the corner, we were able to use our size and offensive power to dictate the match from there on.”
The Highlanders won the next two sets, 25-12, 15-8.
Huynh recorded 14 aces in the four matches with just one service error. Mia Bechtel had nine aces with no errors. Maika Ting had 15 kills with just seven errors, while Charlotte Bailey had 13 kills.
“This is what we need to be able to do,” Glass said. “Control the pace, control the tempo, and when we get opportunities put them away — to be clean.”
Piedmont will have a busy week, hosting Albany on Aug. 25 and Miramonte on Aug. 27. The Highlanders will then host their own tournament on Aug. 29, beginning at 8 a.m. in Binks and Morrison gymnasiums.