High school volleyball: Pleasant Grove grinds its way to win over Salem Hills
· Yahoo Sports
In one of its less efficient and cleaner matches, Pleasant Grove fought and battled their way to a four-set victory Tuesday over Salem Hills 25-11, 19-25, 25-17 and 25-20.
Things looked status quo during the first set for Pleasant Grove, cruising to an early 1-0 lead in the match.
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Unforced errors and perhaps a lack of focus allowed Salem Hills to gain confidence and momentum at the beginning of the second set and they were able to knot things up at 1 set a piece.
The message from Pleasant Grove head coach Isa Takahashi to his team after the second set was a simple one, “forget about it.”
The message was heard loud and clear and from the third set onward, Pleasant Grove had an answer for everything Salem Hills was throwing at them.
“I told them to forget about it. Because, like, that’s not them. They got frazzled. A lot of, like, anxious, nervousness and frustration. They need to learn through those mistakes, and we have to build each other up, build relationships and keep learning with each other,” said Takahashi.
Facing adversity is something that Pleasant Grove hasn’t had experience a whole so far this season. With a record of 10-1 Takahashi’s team is in a prime spot right now. Even so, he knows that struggling and winning matches even when you know you’re not at your best will only benefit his team later on in the season.
“We’re going to have to win ugly sometimes and I think that’s part of being a championship program or a high-level program. You’re not always going to have your best, but in those moments, can they figure it out? I thought tonight they did a good job, and I think they started talking a little bit more. Their huddles got better,” added Takahashi.
Takahashi feels the main key to his team’s dominant run this season centers on his team’s decision-making. He saw some good decisions against Salem Hills but believes his team can take it up a notch or two higher.
“I think decision-making has been the key to our success so far this year. Knowing what the play looks like because I think if you’re guessing, it’s hard to be super consistent in a way,” said Takahashi.
“So knowing how to get to a ball or what type of ball is coming at me so I can react earlier. That type of volleyball, in my opinion, is high volleyball IQ. I think that’s where we’re starting to make better decisions consistently.”