The Vikings defended their home court Tuesday night, against cross town rival Titans. Both teams came out with a lot of emotion and intensity, but the Vikings prevailed in four games, winning 3-1. The Titans put up a solid fight, but in the end Paly was able to outplay them with good team work.

“I’m proud of how my team played no matter the end result,” Gunn senior Michaela Vonuti said. “Paly is a really good team and hopefully we’ll see them again”.

The first game was an uphill battle the entire way through. Paly junior Allie Whitson stepped up with several key kills to energize the Viking offense. When it came down to the wire Palo Alto was able to edge out the Titans, 25-20.

“It was important for us to get the first one in the bag because we were on our home floor,” said Paly senior Hillary Ford.

In the beginning of the second match it looked to be much of the same. Paly was able to make some key stops to halt Gunn’s offense, but the Titans were able to fight back to make it 18-17 and keep their chances alive. Palo Alto stepped up its level of play and took control of the game to give them a 2-0 lead.

As the Titans faced elimination, they were able to steal the third game by staging a new and invigorated offensive attack. They came out with an edge, but Paly proved to be tough competition. With the score tied at 10-10, Gunn seized the moment and went on a 10-2 run, setting up game four.

“I’m glad we were able to win the third game and be able to force a game four and almost a game five,” Vonuti said.

Trying to force a fifth game, Gunn gave its all. Down only three, the Titans kept themselves in the game, but Paly was effectively able to maintain a small margin. Paly’s three-point lead was short lived as Gunn made a late run to bring itself within two, at 18-16. The Gunn stands cheered as it looked like a game five was near. Both teams traded points to a 23-21 score, but that would be the closest the Titans would come as the Vikings sealed up the match with a “Hillary Ford spike.”

“Team play really won it for us this game,” Paly sophmore Marissa Florant said. “This is probably the best we’ve played as a unit all season”.