Energy and perseverance have been the season-long themes for girls’ varsity volleyball. The Panthers proved it with a fiery five-set win against Menlo Atherton High School in a matchup between the two first-place teams in the league on Tuesday, Sept. 24.
Burlingame (8-4 overall, 5-0 Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division) fought through a tough start, dropping the first set. However, after regrouping, they bounced back in the second set with a 25-22 win, and carried that momentum into the third set, securing a 29-25 tiebreak triumph.
It seemed as though the Panthers were poised to finish strong, but Menlo Atherton had other plans. They stormed through the fourth set with a commanding 25-17, tying the match and shifting the momentum as the two headed into a winner-take-all fifth set.
And the squad wasn’t ready to concede. The team’s perseverance and teamwork shone through in a thrilling final set, edging out the Bears 15-13 to claim the victory and remain undefeated in league play.
“Today’s game was like the definition of fighting, we were all under complete pressure, and everyone was super exhausted because the games are super tight. So I feel like it was just our like, perseverance through it all that got the win,” junior Ava Scatena said.
Freshman Ilsa Carlson delivered numerous clutch points, emerging as a standout in the match. She was supported by senior co-captain Ella Duong, a consistent force as the outside hitter, and senior middle blocker co-captain Sophia Geminder, both of whom anchored the team throughout the contest.
“It was going to be a matter of who executed the plan the best. And so I’m really proud of how we adjusted to what they did against us, and I thought that they were listening in timeouts, implementing the right things, taking the right risks,” head coach Hannah Korslund said.
Junior Sam Hollrah impressed with a series of aces and critical digs, while Scatena kept the Bears on their toes with surprise kills. Sophomore Jordan Toomey added to the pressure, dominating with powerful line hits.
With the win against rival Menlo Atherton, Burlingame takes outright control of the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) Bay division. Heading into the contest, the two teams were tied for first place in the league standings.
“MA’s [Menlo-Atherton] is a big rival for us, a big league rival. They’ve been number one of the league for the last couple of years. So, I mean, it’s always a good day when we come away with the win. I’m really proud of how we fought every point,” Korslund said.
The Panthers backed up their win on Tuesday with a dominant performance against San Mateo High School two days later, beating the Bearcats in three sets (25-9, 25-16, 25-14). The 5-0 league record to start the season is exactly what the team needed to build on their momentum from last year’s Central Coast Section championship title.
Going forward, as the Panthers try to stay undefeated, the team hopes to continue integrating the younger players into the lineup.
“There were definitely some errors in the beginning of the match which we could have cleaned up. We could have done a better job at, but that’s just kind of what we’re working on. With all the young kids on the team, we do have some more challenges, we’ve been working on the seniors to step up, and that’s just one of our goals,” Duong said.
