Timberjacks at the Net

Hayfork High’s first volleyball game of the season came a bit late this year, but that didn’t stop the Timberjacks from working hard to make a good first game against the Tulelake Honkers on Sept 21 and then against Happy Camp on Sept 23. While these games ended in losses for Hayfork, the season has only just begun.

The first serve against Tulelake came from Madison Balbini, a senior. Unfortunately, Tulelake took control of this serve and scored a point. This score for the opposing team didn't deter the Timberjacks though. Alexis Smith, senior, had a passionate fire to her as she played, taking dives at the ball multiple times to keep Tulelake from getting a point. The first game gave the Timberjacks a loss at a final score of 7-25.

The Tulelake Honkers showed themselves to be fierce competitors with players like Anixa Arellano, who was steady on blocking the ball and even serving two aces during the second game. Starting the game as a server for the second time, Balbini sent the play in fast and fierce, guiding Hayfork to score a point. This got the crowd roaring with excitement. Despite all the blows the Hayfork Timberjacks gave, they lost another game after a few calls for stepping over the line, leaving the final score at 16-25.

Serving for the third and final game of the night was once again Balbini. To the dismay of the spectators, Tulelake took the first point and kept going up from there. But the Timberjacks didn’t plan on going out without a fight. When they were at about 8 points, the Honkers slipped up, giving the ball to Hayfork. It was in these plays that Hayfork started to make a comeback. Ultimately, the third game was won by Tulelake with the final score at 15-25.

Despite losing their first game, the Timberjacks were not disappointed with the turn out. “I would say we did good,” Smith said. “We’ve only had a week of practice, so next time we’ll have more practice and do better.”

In Hayfork’s next game versus Happy Camp High School Indians, the game was started again by Balbini but Happy Camp took the first point, while the Timberjacks worked to gain their rhythm. The first game of this series resulted in a loss for Hayfork, with the final score at 13-25.

Starting the second game, the Timberjacks came out strong scoring the first point. Kimberly Lo, junior, faced off at the net with the Indians multiple times, along with Arabella Carini, sophomore, and again, Smith. While the team fared well during the second game, the Indians took another victory, with the score coming out to 17-25.

The team gave the third game their all. Carini showed fire on the court, putting her all into the game and making incredible dives for the ball, scoring the team multiple points. The tensions were high during the third round, as a loss would give Happy Camp a win for the series. But Hayfork prevailed and took their first win, with the score coming out to 25-16.

Going into the fourth round, the Timberjacks had Balbini ready to take the shot and took the first point. Samantha Castellanos, senior, also made strong serves and return bumps in the fourth game. And while the team fought hard and gave it their all, the final score came out 17-25.

“We really improved from our last game,” said Taylor Guilfoile, sophomore. “It was just really exciting and showed practice was paying off.”