Victory Christian Gets First Volleyball Section Title

Tiny of Carmichael captured its first-ever section banner in girls volleyball last week, adding to an already successful fall sports season for the Garfield Avenue school.

The Vikings girls, the No. 4 seed, won the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI  banner 3-2 (21-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-17, 15-10) over No. 3 seed Sacramento Country Day on Thursday at UC Davis.

Victory Christian, which has about 120 students in high school, also won the Division V section title in cross country recently.

"It's our first time (winning a volleyball section title so it's neat," said Vikings volleyball coach and athletic director Tim Smithers. "It's definitely a boost for the girls (athletic) program, which is always strong and successful in basketball and soccer."

Despite losing the first and third sets to the SCD Cavaliers, the Vikings girls volleyball players fought back to win a match that went the distance.

"We mentally had to pull through...we put all our effort into that one game," said senior setter/outside hitter Barbie Nolan. "We said we can't get to that point and stop; it was our game to take."

To make the finals, Victory Christian defeated Lodi Academy on Nov. 8 then upset top-seeded New Life Christian of Olivehurst on Nov. 10.

"A lot of these girls have been going to this school since kindergarten... so it's like a second home," said Vikings junior outside hitter/middle blocker Molly Huffman. "Teams have come through and won other banners up on the wall...we're such a small school that each one means something."

Indeed, larger Carmichael-area schools added to their sports champions banner collection, as did in girls volleyball and did in boys water polo this season.The CIF Sac-Joaquin Section added a Division VI for girls volleyball in 2010 and VCS is able to compete against schools with similar student enrollment figures.

Still, it's quite an accomplishment for VCS to win in two fall sports.

"It's a great way for us to reach out to the community," said Nolan, who said she plans to attend and California State University, Sacramento and would like to continue playing volleyball or basketball (she's a guard for VCS). "By our volleyball and cross country success, other schools can see our spirit."

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