Lady Dragon spikers capture SCL tourney crown

After playing for almost two hours Thursday evening, the Sonoma Valley High volleyball team claimed their eighth straight Sonoma County League tournament beating Petaluma 3-1.

It was close. Only five points separated the two teams after the first three sets. Sonoma took the first two, Petaluma the third, The scores were 27-25, 25-20 and 23-25 setting up the fourth - and possibly fifth set if needed.

The first set was nip-and-tuck. After the Trojans tied it at 22, the teams went back and forth with ties at 24 and 25 before the Lady Dragons scored two points to put it away.

Neither team got much of an advantage in the second set as Petaluma led by as many as three points at 12-15, but Sonoma came back and tied the game at 16. But with a 20-19 advantage, the Lady Dragons ran off four straight points to put the game away.

Sonoma took an early 3-0 lead in the third set but the Trojans came back to tie the set at 4-4. It was close with ties at 5, 7, 8, 11 and 13 before Petaluma opening up a three-point lead. But the Trojans couldn’t put the Lady Dragons away as Sonoma kept closing the gap to a single point as 23-24 before Petaluma got the winning point.

The fourth set started out close again. Sonoma at one point led 10-6, but the Trojans ran off four unanswered points to knot the score again.

After Petaluma tied the game at 10, the Lady Dragons took over and didn’t look back. They ran off five unanswered points to take a 15-10 lead. Petaluma tried to come back but the closest they could get was 20-13 before the Lady Dragons ran the table and walked away with the trophy.

“This was the first time we’ve been challenged by a physically talented team,” said Lady Dragon Coach Chelsea Scott. “It’s taken us a long time to get this far.”

“But they showed they’re ready for what’s coming next,” she added.

What’s coming next is the North Coast Section tournament that starts next week. Because the Lady Dragons have been so good for so long, their reward is that they – along with Bishop O’Dowd and Campolindo - have been moved up from Division III to Division II where they’ll play bigger schools.

The Lady Dragons find out Sunday where and when they’ll play.