Taft Volleyball Sweeps Merced Behind 15 Aces and Balanced Attack
| Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| MER | 14 | 11 | 19 |
| TAF | 25 | 25 | 25 |
TAFT, Calif. - Taft College swept Merced College 3-0 (25-14, 25-11, 25-19) in a home volleyball match Wednesday, October 21. The Cougars finished with 15 service aces against just one service error.
Taft opened with its most efficient offensive set, putting down 13 kills with two attack errors on 41 attempts for a .268 hitting percentage. The Cougars added 12 kills and hit .206 in the second set to take a two-set lead. Merced made the third set the closest of the match, but Taft recorded nine kills to complete the sweep. The Cougars held a 75-44 advantage in total set points and finished with 34 kills while hitting .220.
Jadalynn Satele led Taft with eight kills and contributed nine digs and an ace. Jazzahlei Satele followed with seven kills, providing production both at the service line and in the back row. She finished with four aces, 12 digs and two assists.
Shylah Pulu-Havi Valdez delivered six kills without an attack error on 15 attempts, hitting .400. Valdez also supplied all four of Taft's solo blocks and added a block assist. Ku'uleimokihana Manaois led the Cougars with five aces and contributed five kills, while Havi Valdez added four kills on a .250 hitting percentage.
Vienna Perier paced Taft with 16 of the team's 32 assists. She also recorded four kills, nine digs, two aces and two block assists. Railye-Marie Makainai-Kon contributed seven assists and an ace in two sets, while Inara Chin Lee added four assists, two aces and four digs.
Teihanni Tafisi anchored the back row with a team-high 17 digs as the Cougars collected 60 overall. Natalia Strömsdörfer-Meza added three digs, and Taft finished with just one reception error and no ball-handling errors. The Cougars play next at Fresno City on Friday, October 23.
uReport has been approved for inclusion in the ISTE+ASCD EdTech Index, a trusted resource used by educators to discover high-quality digital learning tools. As part of this process, uReport was reviewed and vetted for its alignment with effective teaching and learning practices, including support for authentic learning, digital citizenship, and responsible use of AI. uReport has also earned 1EdTech TrustEd Apps certification for Data Privacy.
