Paly’s varsity volleyball team jumped out to an early lead during Tuesday night’s home opener, defeating the Menlo-Atherton Bears in three quick sets.

After a moment of silence to remember those fallen on 9/11, the Vikings got ready to kick-off the season. Solid serves early in the game gave Paly a 4-0 lead.

“I was really nervous because it was our first game and there were a lot of people there and I had the opening serve,” Paly sophomore Marissa Florant said.

M. Florant was assisted in the opening set due in part to nice blocking by Daniella Florant, her sister. Palo Alto cruised to an easy 25-11 victory in the first set by capitalizing on M-A’s mistakes.

“Our team is solid and we are really good at hitting, but we are a little undersized,” M. Florant said.

In the second game the Bears tried to rally back, but were soon shut down by the Vikings, who seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Paly took the second set by a score of 25-14.

Senior Ali Bisset had a cross-court spike to put the last set out of reach at 20-8 and seal up the home victory. All of the players were able to see the floor on the night and everyone had positive contributions.

“It was a good team effort, but there were no stand out performances,” David Winn, the Vikings head coach said.

Paly has seven seniors returning from the 2006 season and it was noticeable in the team’s attitude and play. Hillary Ford, who is a four-year veteran of the varsity squad, played a commanding role in the game, with solid kills throughout all three sets.

“We have seven seniors who are good team players who play well together,” Winn said.

It was evident from the play that Paly is ready for the season to get underway. After solid performances at two tournaments in the past few weeks, the girls are set for testing their skills against Homestead and Gunn.

“One of our biggest games this year is against Homestead, because we lost to them earlier this year,” M. Florant said.