On October 15th, the Calabasas girls’ volleyball squad ended their season, battling against the Agoura Chargers at home while celebrating senior night. They’d played the Chargers once before this season and suffered a 0-3 defeat, and tonight was more of the same. The Chargers swept the Coyotes on a night that was otherwise incredibly sentimental and powerful for everyone in attendance.
Agoura drew first blood and quickly established a lead. Calabasas would use their first timeout to recoup after a less-than-satisfactory start, with them scoring 7 points in the time it took Agoura to score 13. The teams would go back and forth around this 6-point deficit before Agoura started to pull away, eventually doubling Calabasas’s score at 10-20.
However, a dump from senior setter Emma Baldecchi and an even bigger block from senior opposite hitter Neeka Farmand and sophomore middle blocker Shea Glonek would bring back two more points for the Coyotes. This momentum was short-lived, though, as the teams would trade points until Agoura took the first set 14-25.
The Coyotes started the second set much better. Three different hits from senior outside hitter and captain Ava Glonek would help the Coyotes take an early 5-1 lead. The Glonek sisters continued the Coyotes’s hot run by combining for two big blocks, which resulted in the biggest lead of the night for Calabasas at 7-2. However, the Chargers eventually fought back and tied it at 9-9, and taking advantage of a Calabasas defensive misplay, they scored four more points, taking the lead and putting their foot on the gas.
Calabasas tried their hardest to fight back in set 2, their effort characterized by multiple plays from sophomore outside hitter Charlie O‘Connell, but Agoura could not and would not stop scoring. An O’Connell hit brought Calabasas to 11 points, only five less than Agoura’s total of 16, but Agoura scored seven consecutive points to put the set 2 score at 11-23. The Chargers would hit a serve past the service line, giving possession back to Calabasas, resulting in another Ava Glonek hit. Still, defensive miscommunications from the Coyotes would effectively end the second set at 13-25.
The third and final set started with both teams going blow-for-blow until a defensive play from senior libero and captain Lucy Cook led to another offensive play from Ava Glonek, setting the score at 3-2. This lead would quickly evaporate with an Agoura response of seven points, although Calabasas managed to put a point on the board in the middle of the Chargers’ offensive flurry. Two huge Charger blocks set the score at 5-12, their biggest lead since the end of the second set.
There were many individual moments that seemed to suggest a Coyote rally was brewing, like an impressive Lucy Cook dig or a strong Charlie O’Connell hit that together brought the deficit to 6, but the Chargers simply didn’t budge. When Agoura scored their 20th point of the third set, only five away from securing a win, the Coyotes had only reached half their point total.
However, something then happened with the Coyotes. Multiple big hits brought the score to 14-21, and although the Chargers put up two more points, only two away from bringing it home, Lucy Cook and Ava Glonek went back-to-back-to-back with an ace, a substantial hit, and a second ace to bring the score to 17-23. An Agoura hit that didn’t make it over the net brought the Coyotes within 4 points, their smallest deficit since the beginning of the third set, but the Coyotes shot a ball over the service line, giving the possession back to Agoura and bringing them to game point. The final point was about as tragic as possible for the Coyotes as an Agoura-hit ball that was originally deemed to be out of bounds on the Coyote sideline was reversed and corrected as being in-bounds, securing the win for the Chargers.
Senior night was a bittersweet night in many ways. Although the game didn’t end how any Coyote wanted it to, they were still able to revel in the ceremony specifically dedicated to them. However, that ceremony also ended a very important chapter in many of these girls’ lives.
“It was my last high school game,” said A. Glonek. “It was sad and nice but also a really sweet ceremony. It was nice to play with all the girls one last time. It really hit me at the end, though. I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is the last time I’m playing with half of these people ever.’”
The seniors are one of the most important parts of Calabasas’s entire volleyball program, and in the mind of head coach Taytum Reckleff, they’ve given their all.
“All seven of them played a really important role this year,” said Reckleff. “Coming into a new program and being open to all of our new rules and customs and philosophy is super difficult. I’m just super proud of all seven of them.”
The bond between these seniors and the varsity girls’ volleyball program at large is no different from one within a family related by blood.
“I grew connected with everyone individually,” said Cook. “I got really close to Ava. Even non-seniors – like the juniors, like Hannah [Yasharel], I got really close to. The season definitely made us more than teammates.”
As these seniors recognize that their time under the Calabasas banner is over, they give one last piece of advice to the upcoming girls’ volleyball squad.
“This is going to sound so cliche, but enjoy your time there,” said A. Glonek. “Really, it goes by super quick. Enjoy every single little thing, because my class didn’t get to win, so we didn’t get to enjoy these big wins or stuff like that. But enjoy every point, every moment with your teammates, and every practice. Put your all into everything you want to. You get out what you get in. If you want to have a good high school experience, give it everything you have.”
