NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA – It sounded like a Friday night football game. There was a marching band in the stands, a cheer team on the floor and a packed crowd. Not surprisingly, it was girls volleyball CIF State regional quarterfinals – East Valley Falcons hosting Panorama Pythons…and it was a Thursday.

Panorama’s band and cheer team were there last week for their team’s city section championship match, in their black and gold spirit, a package deal it seemed. The team spirit was contagious, even East Valley fans couldn’t help but shake their own blue and white pom poms to the opposing team’s beat.

The winner of this match would go on to regional semi-finals, but to get there, they’d have to overcome a very evenly matched opponent and the first set began where these teams left off in their matches prior, with high intensity and determination. If this match had high expectations and a pre-determined fight to the finish, it would not let down. There was very little room for error and very little allowed. 

East Valley served first and captain Abby Levy got them going with an ace off the top, but two kills by Panorama’s co-captain, senior Elizah Flores, leapt the Pythons to a 1-5 start and East Valley called an early timeout.

Panorama’s marching band played and their cheer team cheered on. Every pause in the match would be filled this same way.

East Valley’s, Tanvitha Vege, came out of the timeout with a kill to try to to help erase their early deficit and she would contribute one more before the set was over. Two aces and kills by captain Lily Kelsay, helped keep East Valley close to Panorama’s consistent lead. Flores added to her total with four more kills but some late-set, spot-on serving by the Falcons’ Medha Paidimarri and sophomore Margaux Lane, brought them to their first lead of the set at 23-22 – Paidimarri scored two aces and four points in a row on her serve and Lane with three points on hers.  However, it would be Panorama’s Angelina Bomar with an ace and co-captain, Teresa Nunez, with a set-finishing kill to get Panorama the win 23-25.

Despite the fanfare on the opposing side, East Valley would not be phased., The second set saw the Falcons with the early lead and with just enough of a point spread to keep it. Lane continued her push with three kills, Dana Konovalenko had two aces and four points on serve. Kelsay added five kills in a row on Levy’s serve giving the Falcons a 16-11 lead. East Valley went on a run at the end with sophomore Gianna Cavalier serving six points in a row, including an ace, in an all-team effort. The Falcons captured the set 25-20 making the match even at 1-1.

What was once a best of five, became a best of three. East Valley was first to serve the third set and their momentum followed. Lane continued her momentum as well, adding to her ever-growing count with four more kills and two aces. Paidimarri contributed with three aces and a block and Panorama’s Flores made sure her team stayed in this set with five kills and an ace. The set remained tight throughout, but the Pythons could not overtake the Falcons’ lead once again and the set ended with East Valley winning 25-21.

And with that the fourth set became a deciding set. It could be Panorama’s last of their very successful season while a win for East Valley could add on to a list of firsts for one of the newest schools in the league. Or it could go the distance.

Panorama felt the pressure and rose to the occasion. Nerves came into play as the teams exchanged serves into net or out of bounds for the first few points. The Pythons then settled in with the lead most of the way, albeit by only a point or two. Layne and Levy were held to a combined four kills, one block and two aces. Kelsay recorded two aces. This might have been good enough against any other team, but five kills by a reliable Flores kept the Pythons in the lead. It was an end-of-set run by Panorama, with Bomar serving,. Nunez contributed with two kills back- to- back, and the Pythons scored a statement-making seven straight points on Bomar’s serve, finishing the set with the win 21-25.

Then there was a fifth.  And like in most sports, whether it be a game seven in baseball or basketball, a third or fifth set in tennis, overtime in football, sudden death in soccer or hockey, it’s one pre-determined block of play or block of time which determines who is best, just one advancing on.  In volleyball, it’s a deciding final set, in a super-set of sorts, the first to 15 is the goal. 

With the match tied two sets each, . Panorama served first. Flores set the tone with one of her familiar kills and then served up an ace and three points on her serve, including one of two kills by fellow captain, Nunez. A block by Konovalenko earned the sideout bringing the score to 2-5 Panorama. The Pythons increased their lead to 5-11 aided by two more kills from Flores. Two aces by Kelsay and a kill by Vege got the Falcons close making the score 11-12. Panorama’s Brisa Avila put up a a huge block and put the ball back in their hands. Mia Guijarro served, Flores with the kill, Guijarro with an ace brought the score to 12-14, Panorama’s game point. Layne came up with a a last minute kill and the sideout, but it would not be enough to overtake Panorama and the Pythons won the set and the match in five. 23-25, 25-20, 25-21, 21-25, 12-15.

The band played. The cheer team cheered and head coach Ted Vargas emerged from his team’s celebration to applaud their support. They might have won the sixth man award.

Vargas had this to say about his team at the end of the match, “We’re just adjusting, fighting through it, and these girls have a lot of fight in there. They stay with it. They’re down and they keep on, they keep going and I’m just so proud of them.”

And the band played on…

Panorama traveled to Wildomar on Saturday for their CIF State regional semifinal against the Elsinore Tigers. The Pythons season came to an end in four sets. Congratulations on a wonderful season to both the East Valley Falcons and the Panorama Pythons.