Girls’ volleyball wins league back to back

Leo Mooney / The Samohi

Maya Paysinger ('27) prepares to serve the ball in the opening set against Beverly Hills.

The Samo Girls’ Volleyball team has continued to thrive off of their successful start of the season. They are now 16-9 in overall play, and a dominant 8-1 in Ocean League play. On Wednesday, the team secured first place in the Ocean League against Culver City.

Outside hitter, Maya Paysinger (’27), talked about the Culver City game.

“It went really well. I think that our momentum and energy really pushed us through that game, and we really wanted to win.” Paysinger said.

Samo won in three straight sets to win league championships. The team has now won Ocean league two years in a row, which is a huge accomplishment, considering the tough competition. Being the champions of the Ocean League, it secured the team a spot in CIF (California Interscholastic Federation.)

A big piece of this success is tied back to their new head coach, Jonathon Pritchard. He recently talked about his experience as a coach for the team. ‘

“This is my first year as the Varsity head coach and 4th year coaching Samohi Girls Volleyball. I have loved every minute of it! There have been many challenges and learning moments, but I am grateful for the opportunity to coach this amazing group of student-athletes.” Pritchard said.
The team had a rough stretch, losing three straight games on Oct. 3 during a tournament in Los Angeles. They rebounded and won five of their last six games.

“I’ve learned that even when we’re down, we know we can come back, if we all play together,” Paysinger said.

Coach Pritchard agrees, saying the strengths of this team.

“This team, from top to bottom, is composed of hardworking individuals who prioritize the team above all else. Their biggest strengths are work ethic, coachability, and team camaraderie. I do not believe this team has any standout weaknesses.” Pritchard said.

With the team coming off 4 straight wins they had high expectations going into CIF, yet they lost the first round.

The first CIF match was on Wed, Oct. 22, against Polytechnic High School. To prepare for this game, the team watched tape and studied Polytechnic’s game plan and previous games. Despite preparing well for this game, the team lost in a closely contested game that went to five sets. Even though they lost, the team is still proud of the performance that they put forth.

Laila Ghaffari (‘28), a setter on the team, talked about the game.

“It was a tight game that we lost in five sets, but we played really well, and we were really tight with them.” Ghaffari (‘28) said.

Although the season is over, the team has taken many lessons from it and will use them next year to try and improve upon a successful fall. Ghaffari (‘28) summed up the ups and downs of the season.

“We moved up divisions. So it was expected that the competition was gonna be harder when we went into CIF, but we also won the Ocean League. As a team, we advanced a lot,” Ghaffari (‘28) said.