With an 11 – 3 overall record and 2 – 1 in Manzanita League play, the Borrego Springs High School girls' varsity volleyball team's 3 – 2 tie-breaker over the Mountain Empire Lady Hawks on Sept. 15, set the tone for future match-ups.

Despite some of the longer rallies where the Lady Hawks got the ball over the net, and taking advantage of critical mistakes, the Lady Rams still managed to drive in the win.

While showing much improvement over earlier games, and even given the shutout wins, the true test of Lady Rams excellence will come on Sept. 26 and Oct. 19 against West Shores, "Consistently the best team in the League year after year," according to Coach Rick Rethoret, as well as a cursory check of their impressive record. If the girls are on their game, it's going to be a barn burner. Mark your calendars.

Against crosstown rival Julian Sept. 5, the Lady Rams were up two sets to nothing with Borrego up 19 – 11 in the third set.

Julian rallied to reach 21 – 20, but the girls had a team gut check, and held off the Lady Eagles to take the final set, 25 – 20, shutting them out 3 – 0.

However, this was not the case against Calipatria a couple days later, as the tables were turned. The Lady Rams dropped the game, 2 – 1, where in the second set, they fell 25 – 5. Rethoret attriubuted that to "mass brain dysfunction."

The Lady Rams bounced back, and again shut Victory Christian Academy out with a 3 – 0 win.

Contributions to the shutout performances include: 194 team aces, nearly three times the national average; senior outside hitter Camila Hernandez with 76 kills so far this season, nearly three times the national average; junior middle blocker and middle hitter Delaney Barclay, leading the team with an average of 1.6 service aces per set, with 47 service aces; and junior setter Danielle Del Bono with 77 assists, nearly four times the national average.

The team also played Warner Springs and Vincent Memorial, which both took place after print.

These girls got game, no doubt. And when they're all playing in sync – digging, setting, and hitting – and getting serves across the net (they're a little over 80% overall now, with lots of room for improvement), they pose considerable offensive and defensive threats.

We'll just have to wait and see how their improved offensive and defensive skills measure up against the best team in the League – West Shores.

Be there at 5 p.m. Sept. 26 at home.