Calvary Chapel Murrieta Rematch

On Thursday, September 10th, WC officially opened the season with a rematch against Calvary Chapel Murrieta to whom they had lost to in the CIF finals game of the previous season. The girls were excited to see if they could come back and beat Murrieta after Murrieta had graduated 5 seniors, and WC only graduated 3 seniors. Little did we know before the match, that Murrieta had not only lost 5 seniors to graduation, but they also lost 5 returners that left the school due to financial hardships. Needless to say, with Murrieta's team not even close to the same team that WC played just over 9 months ago, WC easily won the match 25-15, 25-17, 25-19. The girls came out nervous, and Murrieta served first with their best server doing the honors. WC had trouble returning serve the first 4 points of the match, when they finally did get a good pass, Stephanie set Erin on the outside and she put down a great tip to give them the first point of the season. They all relaxed from there, and cruised to a victory that was sweet with relief, and a little revenge.

The gym was packed with spectators, only the likes of which we saw during playoffs last year. One section of bleachers were filled with loud, rowdy students who cheered and stood the entire time. There was a very small section of Murrieta fans, and 2/3s of the stands were family and friends of the players. Erin had a fan club of Dave Velasquez (who has helped get her neck and her shoulder back into great playing shape this year), the Sanborns, the Mers, and several high school friends. It was extremely hot in the gym that day, well over 100 degrees, so we all sweated it out together. As the match went on, and it became obvious WC was going to easily win, the cheering became less intense because we were all trying to conserve energy and stay cool, which was next to impossible anyway.