PORTERVILLE – Despite a losing record heading into the postseason, Kingsburg volleyball looks like it’s beginning to find its stride.
In their last six matches of the regular season, the Vikings went 4-2 to close the year. And as they opened the Division III Central Section playoffs this past Tuesday, Oct. 28, the Vikings continued to demonstrate their might.
On the road against No. 7 seed Porterville, the No. 10 seed Vikings dropped the first set to fall behind 1-0 in the match. But the Vikings responded as they held off the Panthers in each of the ensuing sets to pull out the 3-1 victory (23-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-23). As the Vikings won their first playoff game since 2023, Kingsburg head coach Kristen Bray was happy for her team.
“They’ve worked really hard through the season so to make it past the first round, we’re just excited,” Bray said. “It’s already better than what we did last year and we just hope to continue moving forward.”
As the Vikings advanced to the quarterfinals, they improved their overall record to 14-21 this season. As they’ve now gone 5-2 in their last seven matches, Bray believes teamwork and heart has them clicking right now.
“It’s our chemistry on the court and just communicating better,” Bray said. “I think they’re just driven and they really want it.”
The Vikings needed that drive as they went on the road and battled a ferocious Panther team from the opening serve. The first set saw both teams fight as it was tied 22-22 late in the game. But it was the Panthers who broke through to win 25-23 and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
After dropping the first contest, the Vikings needed to right the ship. So in the second, junior middle hitter Averie Croissant and her Viking teammates took control and pulled away for a 25-20 win to tie the match.
“We just started working together,” Croissant said. “There was more communicating and knowing that this could be it so we had to get it together.”
Looking to bounce back, the Panthers battled hard as they looked to keep pace with the Vikings in the third. But with a 22-21 lead, the Vikings scored three straight points to win 25-21 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
With their backs against the wall, the Panthers started the fourth hot by taking a 7-0 lead. Despite a Viking comeback, it looked like the Panthers were about to force a fifth set as they clawed out a 23-19 lead.
But that’s when the Vikings went on their most impressive run of the night. Over the next few minutes, the Vikings scorched the Panthers with six straight points to steal the set. As they came back to close out the match, Croissant credited junior outside hitter Emma Murgia’s serving during this run.
“We just rode on our server Emma and kept going,” Croissant said.
The Vikings now sail to the quarterfinals where they will face No. 2 seed Bullard, fresh off a bye to open the postseason. While the Knights will be a tough opponent, Bray and her team will be more focused on their own game plan.
“We just continue to focus on what we do for our game and not worry about who’s on the other side of the net,” Bray said.
With the loss, the Panthers end their season with an overall record of 25-10. The Panthers were a young squad this season, so Porterville head coach Sai Keovilaysane hopes what they learned from this year will bear fruit for them in 2026.
“It was a growth season for us so every chance that we got and every moment that we got to play, it was a learning moment for our girls,” Keovilaysane said. “We won some battles, we lost some battles so we’ll take the lumps and hopefully we’ll come back stronger next season.”
