Freshmen win Silver championship in vollelball tourney

Ramona High School’s freshman volleyball team won the Silver bracket championship at the Poway Titan Invitational Freshman Volleyball Tournament Sept. 26 at the Epic Volleyball Center in Poway.

“I was really proud of them. It was just a really good surprise,” said freshman team Coach Michelle Winchell. “It was just a complete turnaround from when we started the tournament. Every single girl just improved in some way throughout the day.”

The tournament began with pool play competition, and Ramona’s first opponent was Poway. The Titans won the best-of-three match in two games.

“We did not play very well,” Winchell said.

Ramona then played Francis Parker and lost in two games. The Bulldogs’ final pool play opponent was Santana. The Sultans won the first game, but Ramona took the second and third games to win the match.

“We started communicating and just working together,” Winchell said.

Ramona’s third-place finish placed the Bulldogs in the Silver bracket for elimination play, which consisted of one-game matches. Ramona defeated Rancho Buena Vista in the Silver bracket quarterfinals.

“That game was pretty evenly matched,” Winchell said, adding that “something totally changed in the girls” in their win over RBV. “We were just communicating every ball, and they were playing well.”

Ramona then won its semifinal game against University City, placeing the Bulldogs into the Silver bracket finals against Bishop’s.

“They really gave us a run for our money,” Winchell said of the Knights. “The girls really pushed themselves because they knew what the stakes were.”

Ramona outside hitter Rachel Ward was selected to the all-tournament team.

“One play she’d be making awesome digs and the next she’d be killing the ball,” Winchell said of Ward.