The Fremont Firebirds varsity volleyball team learned a valuable lesson in its final scrimmage prior to Thursday’s season opener— even the ugliest of starts to a game can flip 180 degrees and end up in a beautiful finish.
Fremont hosted the Leland Chargers on Tuesday in one final tuneup before the real games begin on Thursday, Aug. 28. It would be an understatement to say that the Firebirds looked overmatched through the first two sets. Fremont resembled a team that didn’t even belong on the same gym floor. Leland absolutely dominated through the opening two sets, taking them by scores of 25-11 and 25-16.
While the Firebirds would take set number three 25-19, the Chargers rested the majority of its starters for the entire frame. It wasn’t until set number four that Fremont truly began to impress the home crowd. With Leland reinserting all its key players, any neutral observer would have surely anticipated an easy set win for the Chargers based on how sets one and two played out.
However, Fremont had other ideas. Key adjustments, particularly changes on defense, allowed the Firebirds to do a much better job limiting the success of Leland’s top outside hitters.
“We made some defensive adjustments which the girls responded to really well,” chimed Firebirds Head Coach Michelle Wagner. “But the biggest thing is we don’t get to practice against that level of competition. We have a lot of new kids to varsity this year, they are learning, and they don’t hit that hard, so my starters don’t really get pushed unless I bring boys on the court at practice. So, I think our turnaround was two things: waking up and realizing they could do it. Plus, also, a couple of adjustments defensively helped.”
Those defensive adjustments fueled Fremont to eventually win the fourth set 25-23. It wasn’t all defense, though, as one of the key offensive performers for the Firebirds in the fourth frame was senior Natalie Escalera. Multiple strong kills and incredible serving from the six-foot lefty led the offensive turnaround for the Firebirds.
“We were able to adjust to their offense and we were able to pick up more balls,” remarked Escalera on the fourth-set turnaround. “We saw their defense and put shots in better places. And with our younger players, just in playing today, they found themselves as volleyball players and we’re able to be more confident in their swings and in their spots.”
One of those younger players stepping up into a bigger role this season is junior Golden Beardsley. The five-foot, eleven-inch middle blocker impressed with her form both as a blocker and middle hitter against the Chargers.
“She’s just a stud for us, she did play club for the first time in the offseason, and what happened is her understanding and awareness of the game just skyrocketed,” beamed coach Wagner on Beardsley. “So now she’s able to understand the offense coming against her, she’s able to read things faster.”
Beardsley and Escalera, along with additional key seniors in Zoe Shie, Alexandra (Lexie) Chen and McKayla Hsu, form a core that is confident in building upon last year’s 5-9 league record.
“I want to be in the top half of our league,” noted Shie on her expectations for the team this year compared to last year’s sixth-place finish out of eight. “And I think that is a very achievable goal for us.”
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