Fechner, Granite Hills notch league win

Amidst a playoff-type atmosphere inside of Granite Hills High School’s gym, the Grizzlies showed that the days of being the underdogs are behind them.

Granite handled a hard-fought, down-to-the-wire three games with defending league champions Monache High in a 3-0 sweep.

“We haven’t done that in a long time,” Grizzlies coach Breanne Yorba said of the shutout. “I think our program has definitely improved and we’re just ecstatic right now.”

 Sporting a 4-2 record in preseason play, including a fifth-place finish in the recently-completed Strathmore Tournament, no longer will opponents take Granite for granted.

“I hope this changes some people’s eyes about us,” Yorba said. “We’ve arrived and we’re ready to fight for every game. A lot of people saw us as the underdogs and not as a challenge, but this team has stepped it up.”

The Grizzlies’ Emily Fechner certainly stepped it up when she entered in the final minutes of the first game and promptly spiked the ball for the team’s 24th and 25th points to help her team take a 25-20 decision.

Throughout the match, Fechner proved to be a virtual wall, blocking many of the Marauders’ kill attempts. Though she finished with just three blocks, Fechner altered many more and slowed Monache’s comeback drives.

“She definitely changes the momentum of our team,” Yorba said of the towering middle-blocker.

Fechner also had three kills while Jennifer Landers led the team with four kills and 10 assists.

Chandra Jones starred for the Marauders with eight kills and Kara Skiles spiked seven more. Madison Lawley and Rachelle Wiens added five kills each.

The Marauders kept things close throughout the first two games, losing the second by just three points due to several costly serving errors.

Monache came out in the third game with gusto, however, and staked themselves a 5-0 lead behind a bevy of miraculous hits to keep the ball alive.

But the Grizzlies chipped their way back into the game until Monache's Tamara Valencia served two aces to make it 20-19, Marauders.

Another Monache serving error and an ace from Granite that caught Monache asleep allowed the Grizzlies the lead for good, finishing 25-20.

“Granite finds a way,” Monache coach Kyle Newlin said. “They’ve got great athletes. Offensively, we didn’t have anybody step it up for us.”

Newlin said the Grizzlies play a variety of volleyball that his team is not accustomed to seeing.

“They’re tricky in ways that they’re gonna try and get the ball in a place where it’s hard to return it,” he said. “I don’t think I was ready for it and I need to go do a better job and our players need to do a better job.

“Our girls gave all the effort in the world. They just need to play smarter and mature a little bit.”

Both squads play Thursday with the Grizzlies traveling to Tulare Union and the Marauders hosting Delano.