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Using several bench players throughout the match, the Berkeley High girls’ volleyball team dominated the De Anza Dons Thursday, winning 15-2, 15-2, 15-4. 

Berkeley coach Justin Caraway rotated his reserves with his starters constantly in all three games of the away match, using a match he expected to win easily to try different combinations of players. 

“We thought we’d have a pretty easy time of it today,” he said after the match. “We needed to see what we could do with different people on the floor.” 

That need is immediate, as the team will play in the Moreau Tournament this weekend and will be missing several players who will be taking the SAT. In addition, star middle blocker Desiree Young has been out of action for the past two games. With Young unavailable, the ’Jackets have been spreading the ball around more, and outside hitters Hannah Lawler, Lizzi Akana and Caitlin Everett have been playing well, a trend that continued against De Anza. 

The ’Jackets (11-6, 7-0 ACCAL) got off to a fast start against the outmanned Dons, jumping out to a 10-0 lead in the first game before the home team knew what hit them. De Anza’s only point of the game was on a mishit by Berkeley outside hitter Hannah Lawler, and the Dons struggled to even return most of the Berkeley serves. When they did get the ball back over the net, it was hammered right back at them by Akana and Everett, who each had four kills in the game. 

Starting setter Danielle Larue returned after missing the match against Encinal last week, and she looked shaky on several plays. But she gave enough good service to her hitters to give her team a big advantage in kills. 

The second game started much the same as the first, with Berkeley tallying seven points before the Dons were able to get on the scoreboard. Again, it was an unforced error by a Berkeley player that gave De Anza their first point, this time by middle blocker Lena Stahlschmidt. But after scoring two points, the Dons wouldn’t score again in the game, as kills by Lawler and Akana combined with solid serving by senior Helene Skau and junior Ferron Salniker to run off another seven-point run by the ’Jackets to put the game away. 

The final game of the match was the most competitive, although the final score didn’t show much difference. The Dons were able to force many changes in service possession, and their blockers even managed to stop Lawler and Akana several times. But Berkeley’s power was too much to overcome, and Everett ran off seven straight service points on the way to a truly dominating victory.