Girls Volleyball: San Gabriel Mission Rallies at Home, Knocks off Ramona Convent in 5

Little schools. Little gym. Big Excitement.

San Gabriel Mission fell behind visiting Ramona Convent 2 games to 1 and looked to be running out of time.

But the Pioneers battled back and took the final two sets to win a 25-19, 14-25, 11-25, 25-23, 15-10 match that had fans of both sides loud and excited throughout.

Leanet Fandino had 8 kills, Madison Herrera added 5 kills and Vivian De La Cruz had 23 assists and 8 aces in the win.

“Our serve-and-receive was rocky in the first couple games, but we really played much better later in the match,” Pioneers’ coach Jaissi Menriquez, in her first home match at the helm said. “I couldn’t be more proud of how we turned it around after losing two (consecutive) games.”

Both teams had chances late in the fourth set, but San Gabriel Mission was able to pull it out on its home court.

Ramona Convent was led by Sabrina Avila’s 7 kills, and got production from K.K. Smith, who had 5 kills, and Mikyla Medina’s 5 kills and 4 blocks.

“Our issue is we’re taking about five or six points (into a set) before we get started, Ramona Convent coach Angel Hernandez said.

Samantha Sosa had 35 digs to lead San Gabriel.

Kat Ngo added 15 assists for Ramona Convent.

While the loss stung some, Hernandez saw some good signs.

“I couldn’t be more proud of Mikyla (Medina) and K.K. (Smith) for the heart they showed as freshman in such a competitive match,” he said.