Girls beach volleyball went 12-0 in an undefeated league season this year. Westview beach was also one of four teams that qualified for the first-ever Open Division CIFs in the sport’s history. Nia Thompson (11) credits this success to the team’s love of the sport.

“The whole team just loves volleyball,” Thompson said. “And beach volleyball is definitely more of a chill sport, like, it’s not as much of a time consumer. A lot of us have club volleyball outside of it or other sports, so people show up because they want to be there.”

Team dynamic, specifically between partners, is extremely important for success in a match, according to Thompson. She said that in order to work well together, verbal cues help partners locate each other and plan plays. 

“Beach volleyball specifically, needs a lot of trust in your partner and just talking,” Thompson said. “You need to make sure [that] if one person goes up to block, you just trust the [other] to be behind you, or you’re talking through plays and saying, ‘this is what they’re probably gonna do, be ready for this.’”

Ava Zamora (11) and her partner, Vivian Roberts (10), utilized this communication in the first game of the season against Rancho Bernardo, March 21, to come back from a deficit and claim a victory. 

“My partner Viv and I were down in the first set but fought back and played hard to catch up and win it,” Zamora said. “Communication is so important in beach and as our talking improved, we started scoring more and more. We’d find open spots on the court and by communicating we would know where to put the ball to be the most effective.”

Zamora said that the team’s encouraging environment helped push them harder during games, and was what led them to victory. 

“We have a lot of talent on the team and a lot of solid pairs who always give their full effort, which helped us do so well this season,” she said. 

Because of their undefeated season, Westview beach volleyball qualified for Open Division CIFs. Coach Nancy Ross said that making Open Division was a huge accomplishment for the beach volleyball program and that it bodes well for the future of the sport. 

“Having an Open Division is a testament to the sport growing to new heights,” Ross said. “It also allows for more teams to experience the playoffs while separating the best of the best to allow for more competitive play.”

In the first round of CIFs on April 25, the team played Cathedral Catholic, whom Thompson said they knew the team would be a challenging opponent. 

“We came in knowing it was gonna be a hard game,” Thompson said. “Unfortunately, they swept us, but I think everyone fought really hard.”

The match against Cathedral, which ended with a score of 0-5, consisted of many intense rallies, and some close games, which, according to Thompson, made the game exciting. 

“I think because both of us are pretty high-level teams, there was a lot of back-and-forth, more so than in a lot of different seasons so far,” she said. 

Though the team’s season is now over, Thompson said she appreciated the opportunities the playtime gave her. 

“The season overall was a good learning experience for the whole team and it was us to get to play and get better at beach volleyball,” Thompson said. 

Zamora said that, overall, she was very proud of the team’s performance this year and that next season looks extremely hopeful as well.

“I had a lot of fun this season and I think it was very successful,” Zamora said. “It’s actually crazy because we have no seniors [leaving] this year so we should be even better next year, which is really exciting.”