VARSITY (22 – 5 Overall, 11 – 0 League)

Jesuit Varsity Volleyball had a long week of competition capped off by the Granite Bay Tournament. The Marauders started the week off against a solid Pleasant Grove team. With a couple of strong hitters, the Eagles put up a good fight but the Marauders were able to use their defensive prowess to suppress their attack. Jesuit came away with a 3-0 victory.

Wednesday brought a new challenge against the always dangerous Davis Blue Devils. As seen against other teams in the Delta League, Davis showcased a couple of great hitters and strong defensive capabilities. The Marauders were in a back and forth battle and knew they were in for a long night from the very beginning. Davis came out on fire, taking the opening set behind their “twin towers.” Jesuit needed to fight back in the second in order to avoid getting behind 2 – 0. Fight they did, taking the second game in a highly contested set. The third game highlighted their attack with the twin towers over powering our defense. Davis would take the third game, and would only need one more to knock Jesuit out of the undefeated status. Jesuit would turn it on with their backs against the wall, and behind a very strong defensive effort, win the fourth game. The fifth and final set would be decided by 5 points. Both teams fought hard, but there could only be one winner: Jesuit!!

Saturday was the Granite Bay tournament which saw the Marauders playing against some of the best competition in the state. The Brian Nolan Invitational is always replete with talent from all over California. Jesuit would find this out early when they received their poole with the #1 overall seed of the tournament, Clovis (ranked 16^th in the nation), as one of the teams they would play. Jesuit started the tournament off with a retribution game against Ponderosa, who they lost to earlier in the season. Jesuit came out slow, dropping the first set but quickly regained their edge winning the next two games to take the match. The next game of the day was against Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep, and they were a solid in every faucet of the game. The Marauders again would drop the first set, but recovered to win the match after taking the next 2. The final match in poole play would be against the 16^th ranked team in the nation, Clovis. Jesuit would need to play their best game of the season to have a chance. Luckily for us, we embraced the challenge! Keeping with the theme of the day, Jesuit would drop the first set. The first set was very highly contested though, with the Marauders taking advantage of every mistake Clovis made. The second set was an all-out slugfest, with both teams trading exceptional offensive plays. Jesuit would get the better of Clovis in the second. The third set saw Clovis getting on top of Jesuit early and not allowing the Marauders to dig out of the hole. Clovis took the 3^rd set in a tight match. On the day, Clovis dropped only 2 games, and Jesuit was one of the teams to give them a run for their money. In the knock out round, Jesuit was matched up against an outstanding Sanger team. It would prove to be another back and forth battle. Halfway through the first game, Nick Miller landed on a Sanger player who went under the net and badly sprained his ankle. As one of the catalyst for the impressive Marauder attack, it was tough for the team to recover after seeing him go down. They fought as hard as they could the rest of the way, and only lost the second set by a few points, dropping the final match against Sanger in 2. A great showing by the Marauders, in one of the toughest tournaments!

Pleasant Grove, Win 3 – 0

Davis, Win 3 – 2

Granite Bay, Loss 1 – 3

Granite Bay Tournament

• Win vs Ponderosa 2 – 1
• Win vs Sacred Heart 2 – 1
• Loss vs Clovis 1 – 2 
• Loss vs Sanger 0 – 2

JV (16 – 4 Overall, 3 – 1 League)

Granite Bay, Win 2 – 0