Marina girls’ volleyball sweeps Ocean View
The Marina High girls’ volleyball team won just three matches last season, the first for Jake Nuneviller as head coach of the Vikings.
Nuneviller believes that a combination of key returners and newcomers that have come in ready to contribute have his team on the upswing.
In some small way, exacting revenge on an in-city rival seemed to suggest that might be the case.
Senior middle blockers Jane Paden and Helen McMullin combined for 15 kills, and Marina swept host Ocean View 25-23, 25-13, 25-15 on Tuesday in a nonleague match.
“It definitely felt great,” McMullin said. “This year, I feel our team got a lot better. We focus more on serving and just being disciplined and hitting well. Everything just went as planned. We’ve been working hard in practice, and it showed on the court.”
The Ocean View High girls’ volleyball team entered the Lions’ Den on Saturday in the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 7 playoffs.
Last season, Ocean View went to Marina and defeated the Vikings 25-23, 25-17, 21-25, 25-22. It was a much different Seahawks team, one that went on to advance to the CIF Southern Section Division 7 semifinals before bowing out against eventual champion Temecula Linfield Christian in straight sets.
Marina, on the other hand, finished the season at 3-21 overall, going winless in the first year of the Wave League. Even a taste of victory has been sweet for the Vikings and their coach.
“Last year was a really rough year,” Nuneviller said. “It was my first year here. Fortunately, we had some quality returners come back, as well as we have had some good players to come in to help complement that.
“We’re definitely up this year, so I’m hoping that we will be more competitive within league, and it’s nice to get some wins in preseason, for sure.”
The Vikings (2-1) fell behind 14-8 in the opening set, but McMullin led a late charge to help her team rally to take Game 1. She had four kills and two service aces in the set.
Senior setter Brooke Earwood (12 assists) set senior opposite Taryn Akins for the kill to give the Vikings the set by a score of 25-23.
“Taryn has been great for us all year,” Nuneviller said. “She made a huge improvement from last year. Last year, she probably played the least out of anybody on the team. She worked really hard in the offseason.
“She’s been a quality player for us. She’s probably our third-best point-scorer right now. She’s been great for us.”
Freshman setter Jordan Packer, who had 19 assists and two aces, was part of the infusion of youth that has the Vikings feeling optimistic about having a deeper roster.
“She takes criticism very well,” Paden said of Packer. “We’ll tell her what to do, and she’ll over-exaggerate to get it done and then get it perfect the next time. She takes critique very well and just runs with it.”
Senior outside hitter Reese Rosas had seven kills, junior middle blocker Nicole Partis added five kills, and sophomore outside hitter Kaelyn Arnold chipped in with three aces for Marina.
Ocean View (1-5) returns senior libero Alyson Nguyen, junior setter Katelyn Taylor and junior opposite Dana Abascal from its deep CIF run a year ago. Nguyen played setter last season, and Taylor was an outside hitter.
The Seahawks lost the Golden West League MVP in middle blocker Helen Reynolds, as well as a pair of first-team all-league selections in outside hitter Jillian Pratt and libero Kelli Greiner to graduation.
Abascal had 14 kills and a block to lead the Seahawks against Marina, while Taylor handed out 15 assists to go with two aces. Sophomore outside hitter Ava Arce had two kills.
“They do good things consistently, and then you will see the reverse,” Seahawks coach Joshua Nehls said with regard to his team’s inexperience. “You will see them do bad things consistently. That’s where it tells me that it’s all in their mental state.
“They know that they can play good volleyball. We watch them play good volleyball and then I watch them get into that nervous state when they get out on the court.”
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