Gunslingers and blazing fire at volleyball

By Michael Ashcraft --

Suddenly, the volleyball court disappeared and the scene of a hot and dusty Wild West town emerged.

As a tumbleweed rolled lazily along in the scorching breeze and innocent bystanders scampered for cover, Allie Scribner, hands readied for her quickest draw, squinted sternly at her rival, Westmark's Katherine Abraham.

When the ref blew the whistle, the gunslinger Allie fired, a blistering serve... straight at the person best able to return it, Katherine.

"I wanted to ace their best player," Allie explained afterward. "I wanted to make them feel pain."

It might seem that to liquidate the game efficiently, it was in Lighthouse Christian Academy's interest to target easy victims with the deadly gunfire.

But when the spirit of posse justice possesses her, Allie turns into a merciless marksman.

"Number 1 had really good serves and overall played really well with the girls," admitted Katherine, who herself was a powerful player and struck fear into the Santa Monica private school's heart.

Katherine's spikes darted downwards in deadly fashion. By comparison, the Saints, composed of shorter girls, hardly manage a downward-slanting hit.

And at the net, Katherine's blocks ruthlessly put a lid on many of LCA's hits.

Led by Katherine's brilliant play, the Lions won Game 2 23-25, tying the match one game to one.

But if they hoped for a comeback win, those hopes were riddled by bullet holes from Allie's blazing guns.

"If you look at the stat sheet, Allie really did an amazing job," said Coach Jessica Young. "She almost never makes a mistake. She won the third game in serves. It brought our morale back."

Fully 10 of Allie's serves brought LCA points in Game 3, which was won 25-11.

And in Game 4, she had eight winning serves to seal victory at 25-17.

With an 8-1 record so far this season, Lighthouse is looking for a run into playoffs.

Noteworthy play was also given by Hope Catalano, who subbing for a first stringer, executed some exceptional digs.

Sarah Montez sank subs with her torpedo serves. Roxy Photenhauer invented the back-handed slap spike, a new move for volleyball. Clara Czer provided hard hits, and Dahlia Gonzalez was deadly.

Westmark showed pluck in fighting Lighthouse, which had more club-trained players. Westmark was good at getting the ball over the net on serves and returns.

"I think my team played really well," Katherine said. "We did a really good job cheering ourselves on."

Also read other LCA games:
Vs. SFVA Oct. 12.

Vs. Beacon Hill Academy Oct. 14,
Vs Summit View Sept. 29
Vs. Ojai Valley School Sept. 28.
Vs. SCVi Sept. 23.
Vs. Newbury Park Adventist Academy Sept. 9
Vs. Hillcrest Christian Sept. 15.
Vs. Gorman Learning Center Sept 16.

Michael Ashcraft teaches journalism at the Lighthouse Christian Academy, close to Venice, CA.