VB team sees success
By Hector Trujillo
The Scripps Ranch High School (SRHS) varsity girls volleyball team concluded another impressive regular season and showed everyone what it takes to bounce back from a year in which the team was not allowed to play a normal high school season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Re-establishing team chemistry and camaraderie was undoubtedly the priority for both the coaching staff and players in 2021.
“We were only allowed to play for one month in March,” said head coach Roni Hooper. “It had been so long since they had all played together.”
Despite starting off the season with a road loss at Eastlake, the team bounced back and rattled off five straight wins. The longest winning streak of the season was eight matches which included a home game against Eastlake in which SRHS was able to avenge its early season loss in dominant fashion. The Lady Falcons remained among the best in the San Diego Division 1 Section all season-long with impressive wins against Westview and Rancho Bernardo, which are top ranked teams.
“I had high expectations for this team because of the seniors we have. I have been looking forward to their senior year for a long time and was disappointed they did not get a full junior season,” Hooper said.
Hooper has been the head coach at SRHS since the 2015 season. Prior to that she was the assistant under Ronni Olsen for five years. She also played for Olsen and was a Lady Falcon herself, winning back to back CIF championships in 2003 and 2004.
Among the most standout performers in 2021 are seniors Gala Trubint, who has committed to University of Southern California; Olivia Johnson, who has committed to Arizona State University; and Olivia Pennington, who has yet to commit.
Unlike 2020 in which the team did not get to play in any tournaments or playoffs, the team expects to make a deep run this time around. The last full season was in the fall of 2019 and the team qualified in the open division, which is the highest division, for playoffs. That team also played in the state playoffs.