Bulldogs hand Troubadours only their second loss on season

Folsom High's volleyball team has been steadily building and improving since COVID and this year's team might be the best team yet. The Bulldogs have won 11 of their first 14 matches, including Wednesday's win in four games against St. Francis, who entered the match with only one loss on the season. The Bulldogs had one slip up in the third set, in which they committed seven or eight serving errors and lost the set, 25-21. Other than that, the team played well and rolled to victory, winning the other three sets 25-18, 25-18 and 25-16. "We executed great," Folsom High coach Devin Elmore said. "Even in the third set our offense and defense looked great, but what did we miss, eight or nine serves? You're not going to beat a freshman team missing that many serves. I didn't want to win that set. We deserved to lose it. We need to learn from that. "Overall, we're getting big swings from our hitters and we're playing scrappy defense. I like what I'm seeing." One of the team's top hitters is sophomore Jazmin Ojo, who led the way against St. Francis with 17 kills. "I felt we played well," Ojo said. "Everything we practiced to prepare for this match we used to our advantage. "The team feels a little bit different this year. We've got some new players that make our team feel full again. It's a good thing. I definitely feel we can win sections this year." The team's other top hitter on the outside is junior Abby Smith, who had 16 kills against St. Francis. Combine that with nine kills from middle Avery Masters and seven more from middle Hadassah Makama, and Folsom had plenty of offense. Azlynn Basquez also had four kills. "We've got a high-powered offense this year," Elmore said. "Our two outsides, Addie and Jaz, are unloading on the ball and putting it away at a super high clip. They're both playing six rotations and are passing well. Our middle, Avery Masters, is committed to play at Oregon and when she gets a hold of the ball, she's cranking. Hadassah also plays middle and we've got a four-year starter at libero in Khloe Wong. Our two setters, both juniors, Azlynn Basquez and Ryan Kannegeisser, are doing a fantastic job." Ojo said the team's energy is the key to their success. "Our strength is our energy," Ojo said. "When we have good energy, our team is unstoppable." Folsom plays a big match on the road at Rocklin on Monday before playing host to Granite Bay on Wednesday. Then the team is off to Las Vegas on the 17th to play in the Durango Classic, which is one of the top tournaments in the nation. "We're looking pretty good right now," Elmore said. "We had a couple hiccups and lost some matches we probably should have won, but we're where I expected us to be right now."