Casa Grande volleyball team gives new coach a big win

Casa Grande continued to play improved volleyball by turning back visiting American Canyon 3-1 last week. The senior-dominated Gauchos improved to 5-3 after struggling early to open the season under first year coach Jen Sutton.

Sutton, a team parent who played in the Denver area, took over the Casa program only days before the season began with Vine Valley Athletic League teams scheduled to play a double round robin before the end of school. No VVAL title will be on the line with playoffs in the North Coast Section postponed until next season.

With several players on the roster away to participate in national volleyball competitions, Sutton and her club had a slow start against VVAL opponents until recently when a full roster of Gauchos has now run off five wins including, a 3-2 upset of defending champ Sonoma Valley.

Casa Grande jumped to a commanding 2-0 lead (25-10), (25-20) over the Wolves on Thursday, but had to battle down the stretch when American Canyon began to eliminate costly errors and settle in with sustained rallies.

The Gauchos got a strong effort from sophomore Maria Doss who began proceedings by serving for six points before the Wolves could recover. Doss found gaps in the visitors’ defensive alignment with an assortment of well-placed serves.

Senior outside hitters Lina Fakalata and Simon Wright mixed up hard-hit winners with shots that were unreturnable, but long. Fakalata was pulled for the second game as coach Sutton substituted liberally.

Wright and reliable Bella Blue got solid hits at the net while Soss and Savanah Sutton positioned themselves for sets. The third game found a revitalized Wolf attack backed by a vocal bunch of supporters who cheered each point.

Advantages of 18-14 and 20-16 by the suddenly effective Wolves forced time out calls to adjust defenses.

A short drop shot by Wilson fell into open space for a point but the Gauchos could never completely close the gap. American Canyon won the third set 25-20 and the Gauchos were forced to regroup.

The hard hitting Fakalata helped Casa get off to a commanding 6-2 start in the fourth set, but American Canyon roared back to take a surprising 14-12 advantage.

Led by the steady and more accurate hitting by Fakalata and a couple of blocks at the center of the net by Blue, the Gauchos gradually took command the rest of the way.

Wright, who had trouble hitting long in the early going, had no such trouble down the stretch. She smashed two violent winners that found nothing but open court as the Gauchos went up 24-19. Wright then ended things with a solid winner, and the Gauchos won the fourth set 25-19.

Fakalata, Sutton and Doss all contributed to the win with well-placed sets that led to winners. Fakalata was credited with 13 kills to lead the way for the Gauchos, while Wright had 11. Blue finished with four blocks and five kills.

Fakalata is slated to play at Cal Irvine next season, while Wright is headed for Cal State Northridge. Blue has committed to play at Dominican University in San Rafael while Sutton has signed on at Saddleback College in Southern California.

Senior Ava Boloyan had 9 kills for the Wolves.

“I try to get as many girls into the game as possible,” noted Sutton. “We let up a bit in the third set, and it cost us. Our team is excited about the season we have had so far, and, of course, there are still two games scheduled against Petaluma before the short season ends.”

American Canyon rallied to capture the junior varsity game 2-1.