Sharks Show Strength in Carpinteria Win

The Carpinteria girls varsity volleyball team came to Thursday night to settle the score. The Sharks , so Carpinteria was focused and ready to avenge the loss. The Warriors won the first game, but the Sharks stepped up after that to win three straight games and take the match, 3-1 (22-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-16).

Carpinteria fired away with strength in the first game, taking an 11-3 lead. Malibu head coach Carlos Gray called a timeout and got the Sharks to recommit to a win. Malibu fired back with numerous seniors taking control and narrowly lost 25-23.

The Warriors had shown it was their intention to get a win in Malibu over a talented Sharks team. Game two looked like a scene out of Rocky, with the back-and-forth kills that brought fans to their feet.

Sharks Gigi Hadid, Bridgette Ricketts and Carleigh Madden crushed balls for amazing points. Senior co-captain Paige Stoker was nothing short of incredible, again stepping in for starting setter Allison Hahn, who did not play. Coral Silverberg, who controlled the backcourt, looked like an octopus at times, getting her arm on dig after dig.

Game two appeared to frustrate the Warriors, who played well, but could not get the needed points. In games three and four, Malibu clinched the victory with great efforts from senior co-captain Amara Gwyn, Lara Kiefer, Logan Beitler, Hadid, Madden, Stoker and Silverberg.

Malibu has only lost to one team this season and the girls say they are committed to finishing strong.

Tuesday's 6 p.m. match against Santa Clara will be senior night for the Sharks. The team encourages students, families and other supporters to come out for the regular season home finale and say goodbye and thank you to Malibu's seniors.

Malibu resident Ted Silverberg teaches self-defense, mixed martial arts and common fighting techniques. He will teach classes on common-sense self-defense titled Circle of Trust Self Defense at   location on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Call 805-402-3111 to reserve a spot.