West Ranch High School girls’ volleyball was pushed but prevailed in its back-and-forth senior night match with Valencia High School.  The Wildcats prevailed at home in straight sets, 25-22, 25-19, 25-19, returning to form and closing the team in on a second-place finish in the Foothill League.  West Ranch was led by clutch outside hitter Joeleen Reynolds, who had two of her 12 kills for set and match point on Tuesday.  “I think tonight, our mentality was just to have fun,” Reynolds said. “It was our senior night but still we wanted to stay competitive because we still want to get as high in league as we can.”  West Ranch looked in control early but Valencia stormed back in the first set. Both teams rode 7-0 runs in a wild opening set, where the Wildcats’ 9-1 lead quickly turned into a 15-15 tie.  Valencia setter Cayden Hobrecker registered two aces in a 13-1 run and West Ranch appeared to be in trouble. The Vikings pounded the Cats’ receive with dozens of tough serves, en route to 10 aces on the night, keeping West Ranch out of system for a chunk of the first set.  Wildcats coach Jamey Ker knows there are no nights off in the Foothill League, especially not against the Vikings.  “Ultimately, Valencia is certainly not a team you can sleep on. There’s some good volleyball players on that team, no question,” Ker said. “Specifically, a lot of the droughts came from serve receive and passing. Our passing, which has been pretty consistent, took a pretty big dip and it’s kind of impossible to figure out the psychology of that.”  The Cats fought back as they hit their stride late in the set, which was ended by a kill from junior Marla Lancaster.  Vikings freshman Mai’ana Untalan added back-to-back aces in the second set, giving the Wildcats’ passing more trouble. West Ranch managed to hold off Valencia with timely kills in a game with multiple long rallies.  Valencia outside hitter Mai’ana Untalan (77) hits the ball over the net against against West Ranch during the second set of Tuesday’s game at West Ranch High School on Oct. 8. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Valencia underclassmen Kayla Rust and Nyla Wilstead led the team with five kills. Middle blocker Makayla Garcia also added three blocks for the Vikes.   West Ranch middle blocker Valentina Rezzara added two consecutive points with a block and kills to put her team up, 19-14.   West Ranch middle blocker Valentina Rezzara (13) blocks the ball against Valencia middle blocker Makayla Garcia (5) during the third set of Tuesday’s game at West Ranch High School on Oct. 8. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal “Valentina has been playing with a little bit of a chip on her shoulder recently,” Ker said. “I think she’s had some breakthroughs mentally in realizing the things she’s capable of. I think she’s also felt like her starting spot might be a little bit threatened, so she’s playing with a little bit of a chip on her shoulder, which is exactly what you want when you put a kid in that situation.”  Rezzara ended the night with four kills, two blocks and an ace. Fellow sophomore Avery Prestridge also added two kills in the second set as a substitute.   West Ranch opposite hitter Dani Clewis (26) puts the ball over the net against Valencia outside hitter Kayla Rust (2) during the third set of Tuesday’s game at West Ranch High School on Oct. 8. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Cats setter Dani Clewis finished the night with four kills and 25 assists.  Valencia kept the match tight through the first 20 points of each set but errors added up to cost the Vikings a shot at a win.   The Vikings were able to slow down Wildcats freshman Devyn Kobe following the first set, which would turn vital for keeping Valencia in the game.  West Ranch outside hitter Devyn Kobe (9) blocks the ball against Valencia outside hitter Kayla Rust (2) during the third set of Tuesday’s game at West Ranch High School on Oct. 8. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Kobe registered five of her nine kills in the first set but was slowed down in the latter two games. Even when Clewis got her outside hitter more involved from other spots on the court, two Viking blockers flocked to the ball and the Valencia back row was ready for nearly everything.   Luckily for Ker, West Ranch got support from all over the court and from its bench.  “We’re deep, and I’ve always felt like that,” Ker said. “We have a lot of good players in the program and a lot of good options. I don’t want people to sleep on my second team. It’s a good second team, and I have good options if we get into trouble.”  West Ranch celebrates a point during the second set of Tuesday’s game against Valencia on Tuesday, Oct. 8 at West Ranch High School. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal West Ranch conceded just one ace in the third game, where errors killed Valencia in the final stretch to get the Wildcats comfortable. Another Rezzari block put the team up 23-17 before Reynolds ended the night with her final kill.  “I think just everyone on this team has so much love for the sport,” Reynolds said. “At practice, we try so hard, and we’re so determined at each game. There’s never a game where we play where we think it’s going to be an easy game.”  West Ranch honored its two seniors before the game in a ceremony for Samantha Burd and Tahlia Dennis. Burd got the start and didn’t miss a beat while an injury derailed Dennis’ season, keeping her off the court.  “Sam Burd, who was our only healthy senior out there, I think did some really nice things in terms of defenses, defensive tenacity,” Ker said. “She’s been amazing while not getting a ton of playing time and she has never once complained or shown any loss of passion. She still celebrates like crazy, she still comes to every single practice. She doesn’t make excuses.”  The Wildcats are now a lock for a silver medal in league and are still yet to drop a set in Foothill play to anyone not named Saugus.  ‘We just have to keep it up,” Reynolds said. “We need to win our next two games, and then we start practicing for CIF. Hopefully we can win CIF. I think our loss against Saugus just motivated us and taught us a new way of thinking. It kind of pushed us to win CIF, so that’s our new goal.”  West Ranch setter Dani Clewis (26) sets the ball during the second set of Tuesday’s game against Valencia at West Ranch High School on Oct. 8. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Valencia will look to bounce back on Thursday at 5 p.m. back at home against Canyon, a team the Vikings swept in the first round of league. Both teams will be fighting for the third seed in the Foothill League and one more win will seal it for the Vikings.  West Ranch returns to the court on Tuesday, when the team heads to Hart for a 5 p.m. match.  “It’s about habit building, there’s still a lot of season left,” Ker said. “There’s a lot of things that we can continue to improve on and tighten the screws in certain areas. These last few practices of the regular season, and certainly, our last few matches will be a good opportunity for us to tighten those screws and continue to maybe get some other people some playing time so that we can really lean on our deep roster as we go into playoffs.”  Valencia outside hitter Kailee Howard (12) hits the ball over the net against West Ranch outside hitter Joeleen Reynolds (10) and middle blocker Valentina Rezzara (13) during the second set of Tuesday’s game at West Ranch High School on Oct. 8. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal West Ranch middle blocker Grace Kelley (17) and opposite hitter Dani Clewis (26) go up for a block against Valencia outside hitter Annika Puno (8) during the third set of Tuesday’s game at West Ranch High School on Oct. 8. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Valencia outside hitter Emily Jones (3) goes up for a block against West Ranch during the second set of Tuesday’s game at West Ranch High School on Oct. 8. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal West Ranch middle blocker Valentina Rezzara (13) and outside hitter Devyn Kobe (9) go up for a block against Valencia during the third set of Tuesday’s game against Valencia at West Ranch High School on Oct. 8. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal The post West Ranch wins up-and-down battle with Valencia   appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.