Typically, in high school sports, a team consisting of a senior dominated lineup is going to handle a team that is largely made of underclassmen. But that was not the case in ACGC's volleyball victory over West Central Valley last night in a season opening home match for the Chargers. The locals topped the Wildcats in three sets, 25-15, 25-23, and 25-22.

WCV could boast a veteran starting lineup that consisted of four seniors, while the Chargers have only two seniors on the roster, and only one who saw action last night. Although the Wildcats showed improvement from last year, ACGC managed to start the season with a "W."

WCV took an early lead in the first set before the Chargers broke away from a 5-5 tie to eventually build an eleven point lead and came away with a ten point win at 25-15.

Sets two and three were much closer with the Wildcats leading throughout much of set number two. The visitors maintained a three point lead throughout the middle part of the set and were ahead by an 18-15 score when a turning point occurred for the Chargers. A block by Alaina Bunde, followed by a big kill by Chloe Largent gave the Chargers the momentum to score four consecutive points and assume the lead at 19-18. The play continued back and forth with neither team able to break away until ACGC scored the final two points of the set to prevail 25-23.

It took another comeback by the Chargers to win the final set. With ACGC leading 13-8, WCV scored seven consecutive points to assume a 15-13 lead before the Chargers stopped the Wildcat run. Neither team was able to pull away until the Charges took a 22-21 lead it would not relinquish. With the score at 24-22 and veteran senior Olivia Laabs at the service, the Chargers finished off the Wildcats to complete the hard fought sweep.

Charger coach Trevor Irwin felt pretty good about his team's performance following the match. "We played a great match," the second year mentor said. "Our offense ran smoothly and our defense was not going to let anything drop. Our team has put a huge emphasis on hustle and not letting the ball drop within the court. We will continue to work on serving and blocking. Our determination and hard work will set us up for success later on this year."

Statistically, Largent led the team in kills with nineteen including an efficiency of .417. Kylie Young also scored double figures in kills with ten and also hit 40% in efficiency. As a team, ACGC "outkilled" WCV 43-17. Audrey Stowe led in assists with thirty eight, while Bunde came up with five blocks. Laabs led in both digs with fourteen and successful serves with ten. Freshman Saige O'Brien had six ace serves. The team serve efficiency was only .507, an item that Irwin referred to in his comments.

Next up for the Chargers is a WCAC road match at Van Meter on Thursday. A junior varsity match is scheduled for 5 PM with the varsity to follow. Go Chargers!

Set scores:

WCV 15 23 22

ACGC 25 25 25