Team looks for success in post season play
By Hector Trujillo
After winning the 2025 CIF-SDS Division I girls volleyball championship, the Scripps Ranch High School women’s varsity volleyball team looks to go on another Cinderella playoff run after what amounted to a rebuilding season in 2026.
“This year’s team is very new and is a very different team from last year,” said head coach Roni Hooper. “Last year’s team was really high caliber. We had nine seniors and seven of them have moved on to play at the collegiate level.”
Scripps Ranch High started off strong by winning four of its first five matches with the only loss during that span coming in the opener on Aug. 18 versus Del Norte. The four-straight wins that followed came during tournament play on Aug. 21 and 22 with the Lady Falcons’ only loss coming to Fallbrook on the fifth match by a score of 2-0.
Scripps Ranch then suffered three-straight losses at the hands of University City High, San Marcos High and Poway High before getting back in the win column on Sept. 4 thanks to a 3-2 victory over Helix High, and then again on Sept. 9 versus Mater Dei High by a score of 3-0.
“The biggest class that we have this year is the juniors, so I am really excited to see them grow and take that into next year,” Hooper said. “We also have a couple of really good sophomores, and we started a freshman as well. We have lots of new varsity players, but we’re learning a lot and working really hard to play together as a team.”
After being shut out by Eastlake 0-3 on Sept. 11, the Lady Falcons recovered nice-
ly with an impressive 3-1 victory over La Jolla High on Sept. 16, but would then endure another three-game skid this time at the hands of Ramona High, Sage Creek High and West Hills High. Scripps Ranch High bounced back with 2-0 wins over Monte Vista High and Valhalla High on Sept. 19, but then endured a nine-match losing streak in which the team managed to win just one set during that span.
Among the best performers this season are senior Riley McDonald and junior Malia Fleming.
“We should still make the playoffs, but it definitely won’t be the same playoff goals,” Hooper said. “Western League is a very challenging league.”
Scripps Ranch High closes out the regular season at home on Thursday, Oct. 22 versus Christian High in a rematch of their Oct. 6 meeting.