SOLEDAD — Needing two wins to complete an undefeated regular divisional season, the Soledad Lady Aztec volleyball team beat Anzar High, 3-0, at home on Senior Night and won on the road two nights later by a 3-1 score in Watsonville against the St. Francis Sharks.
The wins helped Soledad finish 14-0 in the Cypress Division.
Last Tuesday in the Soledad gym, Giselle Cortina had 53 assists and served 12 aces to lead the team in both stats in the three-game sweep of the Anzar Hawks. Olivia Fale led Soledad with 14 kills and added three aces, and Jazmine Aguilera had a team-high 14 digs. Blanca Serrano and Shelby Sitko combined for 16 kills, and Joanna Valladarez added 10 digs.
In the final game of the regular season with the Sharks, Cortina distributed 31 assists and served four aces. Theresa Chavez contributed by serving six aces and finished with three kills, and Fale had eight kills and two blocks. Aguilera added seven digs and two aces, and Kristy Godoy had five kills.
Senior players from the Aztecs expressed their happiness of attaining the first volleyball championship for Soledad High.
“I knew coming in we had many players coming up to play from the JV team as we had to rebuild,” said Olivia Fale. “We had a lot of commitment to summer conditioning and that gave us a chance to work on our skills and to bond as a team.”
Theresa Chavez, a member of the 2018 championship girls’ basketball team, enjoyed being part of the Lady Aztec teams these past few seasons.
“It feels awesome, it feels great to be the first ones to do it in volleyball,” Chavez said. “I have two teammates that were on the championship basketball team and we want to go out and win it again.”
Krystal Villegas, another senior, has lots of history playing volleyball with her teammates and expected this team to have a great season.
“I could see this championship happening because we have played together since middle school,” Villegas said. “People would tell us that if we stayed together, we could win a title in high school and make history.”
Soledad head coach Alicia Dominguez is proud of her team for their accomplishment this season and credits the team’s hard work.
“We ended the season undefeated in our division,” Dominguez said. “I feel happy and proud that we were able to make school history by bringing a volleyball title to Soledad. We worked hard to make this possible.”
Soledad was seeded fourth in the Central Coast Section Division III playoffs and hosted El Camino High School of South San Francisco last night in the Aztec Gym. The winner of the contest will play the winner of No. 1 seed Burlingame or No. 9 seed Monterey in the semifinals in a site to be determined.
