Volleyball: Murrieta Valley Girls Defeat Yucaipa

The Yucaipa and Murrieta Valley high school girl’s volleyball teams played Thursday night in a CIF-Southern Section Division 1A second-round playoff match.

Trailing two sets to one the Nighthawks were facing elimination from the tournament. With the season on the line they then came from behind to defeat the Thunderbirds 25-23 and 15-13 in the final two sets to advance to the quarterfinals.  

This was a very exciting matchup as both teams were incredibly talented and the action was fierce and fast. The leads kept changing throughout the match, no team dominating. There were so many highs and lows, yet the Nighthawks remained cool and collected to bear down and pull out a tough earned victory.  

Led by seniors Dana Backluid and Taylor Suchy, the Nighthawks rallied to defeat a stunned team who were up two sets to one and leading in the fourth.

Murrieta Valley will now host Laguna Beach at 7 p.m. Saturday in the CIF quarterfinals match.

--Contributed by Charles Mckee