The women’s varsity volleyball team secured their sixteenth win of the regular season in the annual Dig For The Cure game. They hosted the Francis Parker Lancers and swept them 3-0. This game was dedicated to all people who have been affected by breast cancer and all types of cancer and all benefits went to the Susan G. Komen foundation.

The 2021-2022 women’s varsity volleyball team has lots of talent and chemistry. The returners help with that tremendously. Gray Mckee represents her class by being the only freshman on varsity. The sophomore class consists of Emily French and Gaby Javier. The juniors make up most of the team including Bella Griffin, Capri Lewis, Gracie Schmidt, Bianka Lulic, Samanatha Grabb, and Kaila Ah Moo. Last but certainly not least we have the seniors, Grace Richardson, Olivia Sampson (Captain), and Hailey Grimaud (Captain). They were led by head coach Tina Kinkead, and assistant coaches Andy Kim and Kim Guiterrez.

“This game is special to me because I get to play volleyball for other people instead of myself,” says So. Gaby Javier when asked what the Dig For The Cure game means to her.

“It’s really nice to have the whole community get together and this event raises money for the research to cure cancer,” said Junior Bianka Lulic.

 In one of the most packed games of the women’s volleyball season, people gather on the bleachers and cheer as the Torreys score a point. It would make sense as to why Javier says “the crowd” is her favorite part of the game. The Torreys have a slow start in the beginning of the first set being down 9-13. In the middle of the set, Grimaud sparks the comeback with an ace that makes the score 12-14 and eventually ties it 14-14. A phenomenal long rally ends with a kill by Sampson and an assist from Javier resulting in a 17-15 Torrey lead. They go on to win the set 25-17.

After a fantastic win in the first set by the Torreys, Grimaud kicked off the second set with two kills in a row. In the middle of the set, the Torreys take a timeout after being down 16-19. Schmidt comes out of the timeout to record a kill with another of the many assists by Javier. Javier produced a total of 30 assists that night against the Lancers. After a controversial touch call, the Torreys acquire the point making the score 23-24. If the call had not gone their way the Lancers would have won the second set 23-25. Luckily, the Torreys didn’t take this chance for granted and they ended up winning yet another set 26-24.

The third set was filled with tons of action and many nail biting moments. French records an ace and the first point of the set. The Lancers eventually lead 10-13 and the Torreys are forced to take a timeout. Grabb comes out of the timeout with a kill making the score 11-14. Later, another long action packed rally commences with many blocks and digs from both sides. The Lancers could not keep up and the Torreys scored the point 14-17. This play creates tremendous momentum and they produce 3 more points to make the score 17-19. This causes the Lancers to take a timeout. After both teams battle back and forth, Francis Parker leads 25-24. Pressure from the Torreys and the Lancers was evident. The set was not yet over! Lulic keeps the hope alive with a monster kill resulting in the score to be tied 25-25. The Torreys took the lead 26-25 with another kill from Lulic! Both her and Sampson tied for 11 total kills that night. The Torreys were victorious against the Lancers with the set winning block from Javier. The final score of set 3 was 27-25. 

A combined total of 33 digs were recorded from French and co-captains Grimaud and Sampson. Sampson also tied teammate Grabb for 4 aces that night.