Sonoma Valley Dragons outlast Casa Grande in volleyball

The Sonoma Valley Dragons volleyball team bounced back from their Sept. 17 loss to Vintage by defeating Casa Grande on Thursday, Sept. 19, a victory that was doubly sweet: the Dragons haven’t defeated the Gauchos since 2016, and last season lost both matches to them in straight sets.

This time it took five sets to do it, but the Dragons pulled out the win following a tight fifth set that ended with the Sonoma Valley on top, 16-14.

Sonoma captured the first two sets easily, 25-21 and 25-17, playing at the Petaluma school’s gym. Then that home-court advantage magic kicked in, and it looked like the Dragons’ run had run out.

Up 20-16 in the third set, defensive errors let the Gauchos back in the game, and hitting and serving errors by the Dragons let the set slip away, 27-25.

Buoyed, Casa Grande came out fast in the fourth and built a 7-1 lead. The Dragons kept fighting back, but weren’t able to recover, dropping the fourth set 25-22.

The Dragons struggled at the start of the 5th, with mental errors and poor defense leading to a 7-12 deficit, and it looked like home team would pull off their sixth win of the season.

Then a service error by Casa, followed by strong serving by junior setter Sophia Riebli (2 aces, 4 kills, 41 assists, 13 digs) brought Sonoma back to life, and they tied the set at 12 each.

Kills down the stretch by junior outside hitter Gianna Bruton (5 aces, 10 kills, 9 digs) and Riebli put the Dragons up 15-14, then senior libero Angelina Carabini (5 aces, 20 digs) won it with an ace.

Other top numbers were filed by junior Katie Brenninger with 15 kills and 12 digs, and freshman Lola Martin with 12 kills; junior Ruby Capriola got 9 kills and 5 digs, along with 2 blocks, giving her a team-leading 24 for the season.

Sonoma is now 6-5 overall, 2-2 in the VVAL. Next match is Tuesday, Sept. 24, at Napa High, which sports a 3-4 record, 2-4 VVAL.

That match will see the return to action for the Dragons’ star defensive specialist Marissa White, a junior, who has been sidelined due to injury.