Area HS Girls Volleyball Teams Seek Fresh Start

While many high school girls volleyball teams in the Carmichael-Fair Oaks area continued practicing earlier this month, the El Camino Eagles were sweating it out in their school's smaller gym.

The team was temporarily displaced as the larger gym was under construction to add air conditioning and renovate the restrooms. A year after , the Eagles look like a different team and not just because of their new Adidas uniforms.

Gone are , with , including Natalie Riddering at Pepperdine. But three key players from last year's team remain- outside hitter Cassie Denny, opposite Marissa Mattos and setter .

"I think we'll be pretty good but we may take some lumps early," said El Camino coach Martin Soyama. "As for the young players, we'll get them to buy into putting in the work but the returning players know the tradition of El Camino volleyball."

Denny and Mattos are senior co-captains.

"Being with Natalie last year gave me an idea of what a team captain needs to do," Denny said. "I expect us to do really well; we have a lot of heart and that will help us."

The Eagles defeated Roseville 3-0 on Monday.

"We have a lot to live up to from last year," Mattos said. "We want to live up to our potential."

- coach Troy Songer had this to say about the Broncos:

"Bella Vista is looking to compete for the Conference title, but knows Christian Brothers, Oakmont and Casa Roble are going to be tough competition. Bella Vista returns several players from last year's team, which will include last year's Conference MVP Michelle Hernandez (setter), along with All Conference players Kyndra Trevino-Scott (Outside/Middle Hitter), Scarlett Loving (Outside Hitter) and Sara Hibbs (Middle Hitter).

- is again led by coach Ernesto Pananganan. The Cougars will be led by six seniors including middle blocker Laura Noble and defensive specialist Evelyn Lopez-Diaz.

- coach Gene Felise weighed in on the Lady Matadors' outlook for the year:

"The players are at a good start. They are working on becoming more versatile players which I think is going to help us by giving us options to play. Definitely coming into the season ready to swing with strong hitters and better control than we had last season. Last year we finally got the recognition for being a competative team by getting a few wins in this tough league. That definitely gave us the drive to come back and fight harder to get the acknowledgement for being a good volleyball squad.

At this point, one player really stands out as a leader for me and is my setter Liandra Hinlo. She's been rallying the girls up in practice, making sure they stay on point and ready for anything. Her commitment as a player is evident and helps keep the team on track for this upcoming season."

-John Grix, coach at , had this to say about how his Raiders team stacks up.

"We just scrimmaged CB (Christian Brothers) tonight (Aug. 22), played 3 games won (2-1) 25-22, 25-17, and then the third set lost 21-25 and called it a night because our gym was too hot. We played well, but a lot of room for improvement! I feel that it's a very energetic, motivated, athletic group of girls, and that we have depth in all positions.

As for leaders, time will tell but after tonight I felt senior 6'1"outside Maddie Cannon, 5'11" sophomore outside Madison Hunziker, 5'10" sophomore setter Maddie Merlino and sophomore libero Brooke Watson played well. I expect lots of production from them, but I feel in general that it's a team full of leaders. Everyone is ready to step up and step into any position if needed.

We also have a foreign exchange student from Italy named Chiara Moreno who is a scrappy, athletic setter and the girls and I are excited to have her

Although this year we will graduate 4 players (4 starters for that matter) I feel that our depth this year will help next season as our JV team is gigantic and 7/10 are freshmen."

- is defending its , the first in the small Carmichael private school's history. Tim Smithers is the coach and the team will be led by seniors Molly Huffman at outside hitter and libero Rachel Furtado.

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How will you team fare this season? Tell us why in a comment below.

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