El Camino Real girls volleyball tops Taft in City Open final
NORTHRIDGE – Of the 40 wins the Taft Toreadors (40-11, 9-1) had on the season, one of them came against the El Camino Real Royals (23-8, 9-2). It’s safe to say after Friday night the Royals got the last laugh.
Astonishingly, the Royals battled and held on to win the CIF Los Angeles City Section Championship in four sets (25-20, 25-15, 11-25, 25-19) despite the best efforts from the Toreadors. The match lived up to all the hype and kept the crowd hungry for more.
“We play these games set by set,” said Toreadors head coach Arman Mercado. “Every set is a different story, but the bottom line is El Camino played their heart out. They are just so good. It’s really about who just performs better and when two teams know each other it’s all about who plays better.”
The first set was full of fireworks as the Toreadors held onto a narrow 16-12 lead. The all-around attack led by junior opposite hitter Aleiah Carr with her three kills and senior middle blocker Claire Mussell’s two kills kept the Toreadors alive.
However, the Royals did not back down and quickly tied the game at 17 apiece. Before long, behind the efforts of outside hitter and senior captain Claire Grasteit, the Royals went on an 8-3 run to close out the first set.
Grasteit racked up eight of her team-best 22 kills in the first set alone.
Of course, championships aren’t won alone thanks to the help from her freshman setter Addison Choi who led all players with 40 assists in the game. Choi helped set up a commanding 23-14 late in the second set with her 12 assists.
Gratseit did not appear to be slowing down anytime soon as she finished with seven kills in the second set.
“I’m pumped on adrenaline,” said Grasteit. “I’m so happy to finish my senior season off that way. This means so much to me. I don’t know what my future holds and I hope I play college, but if not this is such a special way to end it.”
The Toreadors needed an answer and they quickly showed why they were a 40-win team. In the third set, they jumped out to an 18-10 lead and held on behind their junior setter Francine Baltazar-Shine’s six assists.
It was inevitable that this game would take longer than three sets, but the Royals made sure the Toreadors would not find any real momentum. Senior outside hitter Audrey Choi slammed six of her 10 kills in the fourth and final set, deflating any chance of going to a fifth set.
The Royals are champions once again.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been in a championship match,” said Royals head coach Alyssa Lee. “It’s a good feeling. The girls were talking about this for a while. We were really rough around the edges at the beginning of the season so they worked really hard to get to this point. It’s been a long journey for them and I’m glad they were able to pull it off right in the end.