Valley View High School Girls Volleyball Win CIF 3AA

The Moreno Valley View High School Girls finished tied for first place in the Inland Valley League and then won the coin flip to earn the number one seed out of the league for the CIF 3AA playoffs. There they beat Santa Monica to win the CIF Southern Section 3AA Championship 3-2. “In the playoffs we beat Eastside in three, Cerritos in three, Elsinore who was the number one seed in four, and then Quartz Hill in four. We finished 26-3-1 overall and 8-2 in the league,” said Jennie Barlage head coach at VVHS for 18 years. “Going into this season, we were not expected to go this far, especially going 8-2 in league we were lucky to be seeded ninth,” said Barlage. “I knew we had a solid team, I wasn't sure how it would come together. I knew that there was potential.” Coach Barlage called her top three accomplishments this season: We finished on top of the Inland Valley League (with Riverside Poly and JW North), we won the CIF Southern Section 3AA Championship, and we finished as the Regional Runners-up in the CIF State Division 3 Tournament. The VVHS volleyball team had stand out players in the league: Camryn Purdom was named Inland Valley League most valuable player or MVP; Michele Mendizabal and Martha Epenesa made first team all-league; McKenna Esquibel and Erin McFarland made second team all-league. Despite a loss to North High School that almost put them out of a part of the League Title the team overcame the set back and, “We won the Valley View Varsity tournament and Camryn was named tournament MVP, Michele and Martha were both on the all-tournament team,” said Barlage. The coach called this season similar to most of the seasons, however when the playoffs started a new team came to play and they played with all their heart. “We played together and fought until the end.” "Our strategy in each match was to understand our opponent’s strengths, but to not forget that we had to perform on our side,” said Barlage. “We had a strong offensive team, but we had to serve and pass well for it to all come together.” Despite their huge success the team had a few problems. “We struggled finishing at times, and it hurt us in several matches. I placed them in several situations in practice to try to teach them how to fight through it, but it was definitely our biggest issue this season,” said Barlage. Even with their weaknesses the coach kept the same strategy for the play-offs. “We talked each day about playing Eagle volleyball and to make sure we played hard,” said Barlage. The strategy worked as the girls won the state championship.