Amador Valley’s boys varsity volleyball team defeated Foothill in four sets on March 21, with a score of 3-1: 25-23, 25-18, 19-25, 26-24. The Dons currently hold first place in the East Bay division with an 8-4 overall record. 

The Dons went back and forth for the final point of the first set and won the second set by a large margin to lead 2-0. Despite losing the third set by six points, the Dons kept their energy high and continued to fight hard throughout the game.

“I can tell a lot of aspects of our game have improved. I’d say on all parts of the game we’ve gotten better. We just need to keep our momentum going. We played a good game, but there are still a lot of things we know we can improve on,” said outside hitter Nate Clinton (‘23). 

With the Dons down 22-24 in the fourth set, Nick Nayak (‘25) earned a kill shot, followed by an ace from Luke Melvin (‘23) to tie the set at 24.

After the Dons earned another point to take the lead 25-24, Clinton scored a kill from an assist by Max Riter (‘25), hitting through the block to win the set and the match. 

“It was a great win last night and we faced a lot of adversity. It was great having Nate back, that definitely brought the team together. Last night was a great display of teamwork and I’m excited to see what comes next,” said setter Bryce Nohava (‘23).

Players remain optimistic about the team’s future and are excited for the remainder of the season. The Dons have been encouraging one another to continue developing their game each day. 

“The team played really well. We improved our passing a lot from previous games and the team chemistry is getting a lot better. A lot of our injured players are getting back now and the game itself was really high energy,” said middle blocker Aidan Husejnovic (‘24). 

With seven games remaining in the regular season, the Dons hope to continue playing well as a team, building up their skills and chemistry to succeed in the playoffs.

“I think the team bonding has been great since we’ve been doing a lot of stuff outside of practice. The team is getting along really well and we’re all really close to each other. Going off of (this game), our passing can use some work. That’s going to be a key factor in winning our next game,” said Nohava.