Valhalla takes control of Valley

2026 EAST COUNTY PREP VOLLEYBALL

Norsemen defeat league challengers; Helix remained perfect in Hills; Steele Canyon keeps pace

By Ramon Scott
EastCountySports.com

EL CAJON — Valhalla emerged from the most consequential week of the Grossmont Valley season with sole possession of first place.

The Norsemen defeated West Hills in four sets on Oct. 5, then climbed out of a two-set deficit to win a five-set match at Mount Miguel two nights later.

Valhalla finished the week 5-0 in Grossmont Valley play, one match ahead of West Hills.

Norsemen win two showdowns

Valhalla defeated host West Hills, 25-22, 22-25, 25-23, 25-17, behind a balanced attack and one of its best serving performances of the season.

Senior Jordann Bollens finished with 16 kills, 25 digs and five aces. Sophomore Marcie Grein put down nine kills on 11 attacks with no hitting errors, finishing with a .727 hitting percentage.

Audrey Reece supplied 12 kills, 20 digs and eight aces, while Finley Ryan added eight kills with a .412 hitting percentage.

Setter Trianne Nguyentu distributed 46 assists as Valhalla recorded 47 kills and 20 aces.

The Norsemen faced a more difficult assignment Wednesday after Mount Miguel won the opening two sets, 25-22 and 27-25.

Valhalla responded emphatically, taking the third set 25-12 before edging the Matadors 26-24 in the fourth. The Norsemen completed the comeback by controlling the deciding set, 15-6.

Reece delivered 20 kills and 35 digs in the victory. Bollens added 17 kills and 31 digs, while Nguyentu recorded 53 assists and seven aces.

Grein contributed seven kills and two blocks. Vanessa Moscoso collected 27 digs, and freshman Mikayla Mansour added 19.

Across Valhalla’s two victories, Reece totaled 32 kills, 55 digs and 12 aces. Bollens produced 33 kills and 56 digs, while Nguyentu directed the offense with 99 assists.

Helix maintains perfect league mark

Helix remained undefeated in the Grossmont Hills by sweeping El Capitan and Granite Hills.

The Scotties followed those league victories by posting three reported tournament sweeps against Palo Verde Valley, La Jolla and The Meadows School.

Helix finished the week 6-0 in conference play and 21-5 overall. The Scotties’ sweep of Granite Hills was particularly significant, keeping them one match ahead of Steele Canyon in the loss column.

Granite Hills’ statistics showed how thoroughly Helix controlled the match. The Scotties held the Eagles to 17 kills and a minus-.022 hitting percentage.

MacKenna Palmer led Granite Hills defensively with 15 digs, while Kenzie Ellis and Miranda Haisch had five and four kills, respectively.

The result further raised the stakes for the second meeting between Helix and Steele Canyon on Oct. 14.

Steele Canyon stays close

Steele Canyon went 3-0 during the week, defeating Grossmont in four sets before sweeping Santana and El Capitan.

The Cougars recovered after dropping the opening set against Grossmont, winning 23-25, 25-16, 25-21, 25-20.

Taylor Carpenter powered the Steele Canyon attack with 22 kills and a .395 hitting percentage. She also served five aces.

Crisa Garcia added nine kills and three aces. Roxy Carrillo recorded seven aces, and Natalia Santana supplied 18 assists.

Grossmont sophomore Sofia Reid turned in another productive performance despite the loss, recording 13 kills with a .423 hitting percentage, four blocks and three aces.

Imani Hayes added 10 kills for the Foothillers, Madison Busch had five kills without an attacking error, and Josephine Canon collected 17 digs.

Steele Canyon completed its week with consecutive sweeps and stood 5-1 in league play.

Granite Hills reaches Gold semifinals

Granite Hills faced eight matches during a demanding week that included two Grossmont Hills contests and six matches at the two-day SoCal Invitational.

The Eagles opened the week by sweeping Santana before falling to Helix.

Granite Hills went 0-3 during Friday’s tournament pool play, losing to Del Norte in three sets and falling in two sets to Foothill of Henderson, Nevada, and Aspengrove School of British Columbia.

The Eagles rebounded Saturday by sweeping La Jolla, 25-17, 25-23, and Bonita Vista, 25-15, 25-23, to reach the Gold Division semifinals.

Desert Oasis of Las Vegas ended the Eagles’ tournament run, but Granite Hills pushed the Diamondbacks before falling, 28-26, 25-23.

Granite Hills finished the tournament 2-4 and went 3-5 overall during the week.

Patrick Henry rolls through league play

Patrick Henry swept Mission Bay and La Jolla to improve to 5-1 in the City Eastern League.

The Patriots defeated Mission Bay, 25-19, 25-21, 25-23, behind 13 kills and a .500 hitting percentage from Taylor Gonzalez.

Mariana Carvajal added 11 kills while hitting .368, Ella Conway finished with nine kills, and Ashlan Daniels contributed six.

Natalie Rynard directed the offense with 35 assists and shared the team lead with Ada Parker at 11 digs.

Patrick Henry was even more efficient in a 25-23, 25-8, 25-17 victory over La Jolla. The Patriots produced 31 kills with only six attacking errors for a .424 hitting percentage.

Daniels had eight kills without an attacking error, Carvajal added five kills on eight attacks and Sydney Conway converted all three of her attempts.

Rynard recorded 22 assists and five of Patrick Henry’s 19 aces.

The two victories moved the Patriots into the primary challenger’s position behind unbeaten Point Loma in the City Eastern race.

Mountain Empire wins two of three

Mountain Empire responded to a five-set loss against O’Farrell Charter by earning consecutive Frontier-Summit victories.

The Redhawks outlasted Horizon Prep, 25-23, 20-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-8.

Bibi Caceres led Mountain Empire with 12 kills and nine total blocks. Rowan Smith collected 34 digs, Josalin Shawcroft added six kills and 16 digs, and Breeza Valdez finished with 18 assists and 17 digs.

Mountain Empire then swept Victory Christian Academy, 25-10, 27-25, 25-21.

Shawcroft recorded 13 kills and 15 digs. Kailey Quintana and Kalia Jones each added seven kills, with Jones hitting .429.

Valdez distributed 31 assists, and Smith contributed 19 digs and eight aces as the Redhawks finished the week 2-1.

Pacific race tightens

Foothills Christian did not play during the week but remained atop the Pacific League at 5-0.

Escondido Charter moved into second place at 4-1 by sweeping Maranatha Christian. The White Tigers then went 3-2 at a tournament, defeating South Tahoe, Desert Oasis and Liberty while losing three-set matches to Willow Canyon and Crescenta Valley.

Maranatha Christian recovered from its loss to Escondido Charter by sweeping Tri-City Christian.

Rock Academy earned its first Pacific victory by defeating Del Lago Academy, 25-16, 21-25, 25-20, 25-19.

Rock Academy received 12 kills from Rodrigues and 11 kills and three blocks from Birney, according to the submitted statistics. Full first names were not available in the supplied roster information.

The Warriors finished the week 1-5 in league, while Del Lago Academy fell to 0-6.

Foothills Christian entered the following week with Escondido Charter, Maranatha Christian and Tri-City Christian still positioned to influence the championship race.

Around East County

Christian swept Scripps Ranch, 25-23, 25-16, 25-19, in its only match of the week.

West Hills rebounded from its loss to Valhalla by sweeping Monte Vista. Mount Miguel defeated El Cajon Valley in four sets before its five-set loss to the Norsemen.

El Capitan earned a sweep over Grossmont between losses to Helix and Steele Canyon. Santana was swept by Granite Hills and Steele Canyon.

Liberty Charter swept Crawford before dropping a five-set match to The Cambridge School.

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