By Courtney Baker, Danika Meer, and Amber Taylor

Oct 16th, 2015

Pirates Stand Strong Despite Losses Against Valley Schools

The PHS volleyball team continued the search for their first league win of the season this week with matches against North Valley and Hidden Valley. The pirates displayed vast improvement both nights, but ultimately fell in each match three sets to zero.

Starting on Tuesday, the Pirates faced the North Valley Knights (7-2 Skyline, 14-4 overall) at Phoenix High School. Both teams fought hard, but it would ultimately be North Valley to come out on top. Lyzett Gutierrez, senior captain and libero, contributed 15 digs for her team; while setter Emi Weiss ended the night with 15 assists.

Thursday, Hidden Valley (7-2 Sky and 16-3 overall) proved to be a tough competitor for the Pirates. While Phoenix would eventually fall in three sets (25-14, 25-9, 25-14), the front rows and back rows demonstrated good communication throughout the entire match. Lyzett Gutierrez led the way with 20 digs. Phoenix head coach Candace Leidecker expressed her satisfaction with the team in that they fought hard the whole way though, despite the end results.

As the regular volleyball season comes to a close, Phoenix hopes to end the season with a win over the 7th ranked OSAA team, Henley. Since the team will most likely not be given a play-in game to extend their season, players look to the upcoming 2016 season. Sophomores Maddie Dodd and Avary Reneau reveal their optimism for the 2016 season, remarking that the team will have more experience playing together, which will overall build into a stronger season.

Last night, the Pirates recognized seniors Emi Weiss, Danika Meer, and Lyzett Gutierrez as their final season of volleyball wraps up. All three players showed mass amounts of dedication throughout their high school careers, and will be tough to say goodbye to when the season officially ends.