The Kofa Kings defeated the Alhambra Lions 25-7, 25-5, and 25-7 to remain undefeated on the season.

Alhambra was without its star middle blocker Amire Maker, who suffered a broken foot and is likely out for the season. Alhambra’s head coach Josh Olshan called up two junior varsity girls to help fill Maker’s place.

The Kings came out strong in the first set, scoring five unanswered points right away. Kofa led the way the entire set, limiting Alhambra to only seven points. Kofa’s middle blocker Jessica Galindo secured the final point of the set with a solid block.

Kofa opened the second set with an ace from setter Isabel Ponce. Despite scoring only five points, the Lions had a much stronger second set.

Alhambra kept within a few points of Kofa for the first few minutes of the set. They forced a nice rally, causing the Kings to fight for the point. Soon after, the Kings quickly pulled ahead and finished out the set 25-5.

The Kings showed no mercy in the third and final set. Kofa continued to play strong and got the lead quickly. Alhambra was unable to overcome the defict, and the Kings secured the match victory with a 25-7 win in the third set.

With the loss Alhambra falls to 1-6 on the season while Kofa improves to 8-0.

Despite losing in straight sets, Olshan remained positive about his team.

“I thought we did exceptional,” Olshan said. "We made a lot of changes in the last two nights to our lineup. We pulled up two JV players. I thought we played a really high level of volleyball. We just don’t have the athleticism right now to put the ball down against a good team like that.”

One of the two girls to get called up, Emoni Sutterwhite, had mixed emotions about tonight’s match.

“I was really nervous," Sutterwhite said. "It’s a big step up, so I needed to push myself. I think we did pretty good. Although we lost, the effort was there. If we communicate and don’t let free balls hit the floor, we can win the next game.”

On top of having two junior varsity players called up, Olshan also moved one of his captains to a new position this week. Senior Aryhannah Meza played her second match as a libero tonight.

“It’s hard to get adjusted to a new position, but personally I think I did really well, not knowing where I was going.” Meza said. “I don’t mind playing setter or libero, it’s just what Coach Olshan thinks is better for the team.”

Olshan was pleasantly surprised by his new libero’s performance. Meza led the team by far with 22 serve receptions, and the libero also racked up five digs.

“I thought it was one of the best libero matches we’ve had at our school for the two years I’ve been here,” Olshan said. “She played great for it being her second match as a libero. She did a great job physically and emotionally it was really outstanding.”

The Lions play Dobson at home next week while Kofa takes on Skyline at home.