Jose's second volleyball article.

Home Court Pays Off for the Silver Knights
APPLE VALLEY - The Riverside Prep girls volleyball team didn’t need an actual home court to stay undefeated in league play. They didn’t need the game to start on time either.
Thursday’s home matchup against Cross Valley League rival University Prep was played 11 1/2 miles from Riverside Prep and UP showed up an hour late because they couldn’t get a bus to Sitting Bull Middle School, where the match was played.
Despite the difficulties, the Silver Knights defeated the Jaguars 3-1 (19-25, 25-21, 26-24, 25-15) to remain atop the CVL standings.
“Normally we do our home games at their gym,” Riverside Prep coach Amy Sarkesian said. “Last year we did that, and I’m convinced that was part of the reason we lost against them. They have so much support there that we were the vistors even for our home game. I told the athletic director, please, this year give us our home game against UP at Sitting Bull.”
The Silver Knights (6-2, 3-0 CVL) beat the defending league champion Jaguars (6-6-1, 2-2 CVL) for the second time in as many matches. Riverside Prep won this time without Ofa Moa Samfong, whom Sarkesian called their star. SamFong is on vacation and out of action for two weeks.
With SamFong out of action, a pair of seniors stepped up for the Silver Knights.
“Destiny Fernandez and Vanessa Keyes both did an excellent job tonight picking up the slack,” Sarkesian said.
Fernandez had 12 kills, three aces, two blocks, and one dig to lead the Silver Knights. Keyes added
University Prep took the first set 25-19, in large part due to 16 errors by Riverside Prep.
Both teams committed more than 15 errors in the second set, but the Silver Knights were able to grab a 25-21 victory.
“I don’t think we changed (anything) at all,” University Prep coach Heather Martin said. “RP stopped making mistakes they were making, and we just started making a few more.”
The Silver Knights grabbed the lead when they won a back-and-forth third set 26-24, punctuated by a kill by Chelsea Baker.
Riverside Prep and Baker carried the momentum into the fourth set. Baker had three straight aces for at one point and 10 of the senior’s serves resulted in points for the Silver Knights.
“We came back strong,” Sarkesian said. “The league that we’re in, there is not a lot of competitive teams. They get really flustered with UP especially beacuse they’re our rival school. I was really proud of them tonight.”
University Prep is still looking for the mojo it had last season. The Jaguars have a new look after losing four starters from last season’s league championship team.
“RP stepped up their game a little bit,” Martin said. “Overall, I’m not displeased with them. There were some long games, some long rallies, and they kept through it pretty well.”
Marissa Rados led the way for the Jaguars with seven kills and 27 digs.