THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Whitney High School Athletics

Last year, Whitney High’s girls volleyball team defeated Rocklin for the first time in their annual Quarry Match, but the Thunder returned to form Thursday and swept the visiting Wildcats 3-0 – 25-23, 25-10 and 25-16. Both teams came in young and it was Whitney’s first game of the season. The first set of the match gave fans the feeling it was going to be a good, old-fashioned cross-town shootout, but sets two and three were all Rocklin. “I was concerned about this year. We lost a lot of seniors last year so we have a lot of players that are unproven,” said Thunder head coach Dave Muscarella. “They were good as JV, but it’s a little bit different when you get to the varsity level, a little different speed. And they really stepped up well and are doing a great job.” As far as Whitney is concerned, pretty much the same could be said for the Wildcats. They have two seniors on the team, 11 juniors, three sophomores and one freshman. Actually, only senior Kaitlin Bullock returns with any real experience. Her classmate Bailey Olmedo did not play much as a junior. As for graduating talent, the ‘Cats lost league MVP Macey Hayden and all-Capital Valley Conference players Ellie Basquez and Cammie Good. Hayden had 17 kills against the Storm last year; this year the entire team had 21. “We are a young team. We’ve got a lot of JV players that came up. We’ve got three girls that are transfers that are new,” said Whitney head coach Jeff LaShell. “We’re out finding our grove and this is our first contact of the season. There are no excuses, you’ve got to win and you’ve got play with the lineup you have, and we did.” LaShell and the ‘Cats knew opening the season before a raucous, rivalry crowd was going to be a tall order. Rocklin entered the contest with two wins already under their collective belts, having lost just one set so far this season. “They just keep going. When we were at Placer and we lost that set and they just kept grinding … ,” Muscarella said. “We wore them down and ended up taking control of the match. If they can continue to do that it’s going to be a fun year.” The Thunder frontline of Andreia Keane, Raquel Castro, Kennedy Crane and Alex O’Donnell combined for 30 kills. They were set up by Taylor Melchiori (24 assists) and Morgan Spears, both juniors, as is Castro. Crane is a freshman and delivered the winning blow in set one. Bullock had six kills for Whitney and junior Kaylie Honberger had five. Ashley Williams had four blocks and Kendall Gimenez, Olmedo and Bullock had three each. Gimenez is a sophomore. Spears led the Thunder in digs with 13, and Keane, Lindsey Rawe and Melchiori had seven each. Whitney’s Diana Sahakyan (freshman) received 11 serves with just one error and Rocklin’s Spears and Rawe combined for 31. Top servers for Whitney were Honberger (12), Sydney Lukanich (11) and McKenna Kelsey (11). Melchiori (19), Keane (19), Rawe (11) and Spears (10) set the pace for the Thunder. Whitney was scheduled to host McClatchy, Bella Vista and Colfax this week. Bella Vista being a conference match. Rocklin visits St. Francis before beginning Sierra Foothill League play at Del Oro Sept. 11 and hosting Woodcreek Sept. 13.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Whitney High School Athletics

ROCKLIN GRINDS OUT 3-0 VICTORY OVER WHITNEY

JIM LINSDAU

Placer Herald | 9/6/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Gary Jones