The Paly Vikings dominated the Gunn Titans, 3-0, after a tough volleyball match on Thursday, Sept. 22 in Paly’s big gym, securing their second home victory of the season.

According to junior Megan Coleman, the team anticipated a tough match against the Titans, but believed that the Vikings would come out victorious.

“Gunn is always tough competition,” Coleman said. “Our rivalry is so strong that anytime we play them it is going to be a good game … Paly always had the upper edge in the past, but it always came down to a few points, so we expected a close game.”

The victory from the Harbor Tournament last weekend also really helped boost the Vikings’ confidence, according to junior Trina Ohms.

“The overall intensity from the [Harbor Tournament] last weekend really helped us,” Ohms said. “What we need to work on now is focusing on our side of the court and what we can do better.”

Though the Titans fell to their cross-town rivals, Gunn head coach Kevin Hwang was satisfied with the results of the game.

“I thought we competed well overall,” Hwang said. “We were a little inconsistent at times, but I’m happy that they gave it a great effort.”

The Vikings had a shaky start, falling eight points behind the Titans for the first few minutes of the game, but managed to win the first match, 25-21.

“We started off slow, but then we woke up and realized what we needed to do to improve,” senior co-captain Cassie Prioleau said.

According to Prioleau, the match was close because the Vikings were not careful about reducing minimal mistakes such as minor hitting errors during the game, but it was something they planned on working on for the next game.

The second match started off strong, making up for the slow start of the previous game. The Vikings kept a solid lead, which resulted in a 25-13 win.

Winning the second game gave the girls the confidence needed to secure a final victory against the Titans with a 25-21 win in the third match, ultimately leading to a victorious game.

Even though the team won overall, there is still room for improvement, according to senior co-captain Marissa Florant.

“We made too many errors and we didn’t play as well as we could’ve,” Florant said. “We need to work on our serves and be more alert on defense.”

Head coach Dave Winn agrees with Florant, feeling that the team, despite winning the game, could always improve their technique.

“We didn’t play our best, but we won, which is good,” Winn said. “We played a lot better in the Harbor Tournament this weekend, but we weren’t bad against our rival [Gunn].”

The Titans mounted a stronger opposition than the Vikings had anticipated, according to Winn.

“They’re [Gunn] a really young team with lots of potential,” Winn said. “They’re going to be scary good in a year or two so we have to watch out for them.”

Hwang shares similar opinions with Winn about the Vikings during the game.

“They [Paly] came out with a lot of energy,” Hwang said. “They were good when they had to be and really gave it their all.”

The team will face Los Altos in the second away game of the season at 6:45 p.m Thursday, Sept. 24. The next home game will be against against Mountain View at 6:45 p.m Tuesday, Sept. 29 in the gym.