Riley Wilkins of the JV Lady Broncs sets the ball for a potential attack in a recent match. Photo by Isabelle Anzaldo.
Kern Valley’s JV volleyball team was back on the court with league matches on tap. They would deliver a pair of victories to stay relevant in the HDL standings.
The Lady Broncs went on the road this week to Frazier Mountain and Rosamond. They would return with wins playing both matches to three sets. In both matches Kern Valley lost the opening set, but bounced back to take the next to sets and send them off with the victories.
Facing off with Frazier Mountain, the Lady Broncs lost set one 25-15. They regrouped and tied up the match with a 25-20 comeback. This would go to the deciding third game. The back-and-forth battle saw the Lady Broncs pull away and win it by the score of 15-11. This match was decided on the court as there were only two service aces for the Kern Valley squad. Brynnleigh McCarthy had both to lead the Lady Broncs.
At the net, Kern Valley had 22 kills as a team. Leading the way was Jade Montes with 12. Kenadie Young followed with seven kills. Samantha Wyly, Taylor Kristy, and McCarthy were credited with one kill apiece. On the defensive side of the net, McCarthy had the lone block for the Lady Broncs. Kristy led the way in assists with 20 to help push Kern Valley in starting their offense. The dig leader for the Lady Broncs was Ashley Plante with 13. Wyly and Young each had eight, while Montes delivered seven digs. Emmalyn Bechtel had four, while Kristy had a pair of digs. Capping the digs for the Lady Broncs was Riley Wilkins with one dig.
In their second match of the week, the Lady Broncs traveled to Rosamond. After another first set loss by the score of 25-16. Trailing 1-0, Kern Valley came back and took the second game 25-18. With the match tied at one apiece, the match went to the decider. It was a dominating performance in the third set by taking it 15-6.
This match, the Lady Broncs did a better job at collecting service aces. As a team they had 12 aces. Leading the way was Young with six. Montes followed with three aces for Kern Valley. Amber McAhren, Wilkins, and Kristy closed out the service aces with one each. The Lady Broncs as a team connected on 19 kills. The leader in this match was Young with five. Four Kern Valley players recorded three kills apiece. Wyly, Montes, McAhren, and McCarthy had three. Wilkins and Kristy delivered one kill each.
Montes recorded the lone block for the Lady Broncs. Kristy was the boss when it came to assists as she was credited with 15. Young and Plante shared the team lead in digs with seven apiece. Wyly, Kristy, and Bechtel each had a pair of digs, while Montes finished with one.
Head coach Jessica Yasin commenting on the week of volleyball said, “We are very excited that a long week on the road resulted in two come from behind wins. These girls battled hard through a tough first game and handled both Rosamond and Frazier Mountain at their house. We are currently 5-1 in league almost halfway through the season. We have a huge home game against Bishop on October 3. and Mammoth on October 8. We hope to see everyone out to support all of these hard-working girls!”
Kern Valley will continue HDL action as they went back on the road to Cal City on Tuesday. They will be home for the big match with Bishop on Thursday.
HDL Volleyball Standings
| Team | W | L | GB |
| Mammoth | 5 | 1 | – |
| Kern Valley | 5 | 1 | – |
| Cal City | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Bishop | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Frazier Mt. | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Rosamond | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| Desert | 1 | 5 | 4 |
| Boron | 0 | 6 | 5 |
