11/5/23
Lowell Defeats Lincoln in 2023 Girls JV Volleyball Championship Game

The Lowell Cardinals are volleyball champions once again. On Friday, November 3, 2023, Lowell faced off against the #2 seeded Lincoln Mustangs in the AAA League, CIF SF City Section Championship Match at historic Kezar Pavilion.

Lincoln (7-1, 16-8) made their way to the City Finals by finishing second in league and defeating the Washington Eagles on Halloween night. Lowell (8-0, 16-14) completed league play with an 8-0 record to secure the number one seed. Lowell defeat Immaculate Conception Academy (ICA) in straight sets to make their appearance in this match, also on Halloween evening.

Lowell, as the home team, opened the first set on serve receive and got the quick sideout with a kill down the line by Sophomore Hannah Tandoc. Lowell and Lincoln would trade sideouts until Lowell went on a 6-1 run to make it 11-4, when the Mustangs called their first time out after back to back ace serves by Sophomore Libero Marissa Miyamoto. The Cardinals and Mustangs would trade missed serves before back to back Cardinal errors forced a time out by Lowell at 15-10. Lincoln would close the gap to 18-15 but would get no closer as Lowell finshed the first set on a 7-3 run to win 25-18. Lowell would hit .250 in the first set. 

In the second set, Lincoln jumped to a 12-5 lead capitalizing on Lowell's shaky serve receive, hitting errors and timely offense from Sophomore Chloe Lam. Lowell's offense could not gain any traction as Lincoln showed complete control of the second set, even as Freshman Middle Mikayla Liu would score 4 straight points with a kill and 3 service aces. Lincoln would go and win set number two 25-17.

The third set had Lowell took quick 5-1 lead over Lincoln with strong serving from Freshman Outside Hitter Abbey Huang and persistent defense. Lincoln would tie the score at 8-8, half through set number three. Miscues and great blocking by both sides brought the final set to 12-10 in favor of the Lowell Cardinals forcing Lincoln to use their second time out. On the ensuing serve by Abbey Huang, Lowell would convert on a tip kill by Sophomore Outside Hitter Laila Wang to make it 13-10. Abbey Huang would bring the Cardinal to match point at 14-10 with a kill from a back row attack. Lincoln would respond on the next served ball with a block to close the score to 14-11. Lowell closed out the set and match with a line kill by Mikayla Liu hitting in opposite position.

This was Lowell's fourth straight AAA league champioship in a row, not including the pandemic year of 2020, when there was no scheduled match.

The Lowell Varsity Girls Volleyball defeat Balboa Buccaneers in four sets to secure their own championship. Congratulations to the both Lowell JV and Varsity Volleyball teams for completing an undefeated season and being city champions again.