The Vikings put up a good fight in the Nov. 11 volleyball game against the San Joaquin Delta Mustangs, but ultimately lost the fight. San Joaquin Delta, who have a record of 10-2 and are at the top of the Big 8 conference, forced the Vikings to get defensive and keep rallies alive with great passing.

The Vikings missed their dominate middle, Jade Lee, who was benched due to conjunctivitis. Madison Hatch stepped up, taking Lee’s place and did a great job. As stated by coach Ponciano-Babb, she had “smart kills.”

Coach Ponciano-Babb also said, “First set was awesome. Our passing was key and took them out of the game.”

After the solid first set the Vikings started rolling downhill. They lost the next two sets by a decent margin as the Mustangs were more aggressive and took over the match. The Mustangs, with great hitting, made it hard for the Vikings to get a good set on the ball.

Middle hitter, Madison Hatch, commented on the strengths of the game saying, “Passing from Kanoe, she is what keeps us together, keeps us going.”

Taylor-Marie Kanoe Pruett is not only the libero of the team, but is also a clear leader on the court. Almost every scoring play started with Kanoe either digging a ball or making a great pass to the setter.

“We served tough in the first set and we had smart hits to the setter,” said outside hitter Noelle Vleisides about the strong first set.

The Vikings are a young team with only four sophomores. They will honor leaving sophomores Krisha Carpio, Taylor Patton, Taylor-Marie Kanoe Pruett and Noelle Vleisides at their last home game on Wednesday, Nov. 18.