MUSTANGS ARE READY TO MAKE SOME NOISE
For the Otay Ranch girls volleyball team, its future is wrapped up in a single word: opportunity.
In the Metro Mesa League, with programs like Eastlake, the Mustangs have been competitive, but not like this year.
The school doesn’t just have one go-to scorer. Or two or even three. Heading into the showdown with Eastlake on Wednesday, coach Michael Pandaan’s club has four individuals with 100 or more kills, not to mention a glittering 30-6 overall record and an 8-1 league mark.
The Fearsome Foursome includes:
Ximena Cordero, a 5foot-10 sophomore, has 390 kills. Familiar name? Her sisters Karen and Grecia made their presence known when they attended Otay Ranch.
Arramis Gonzalez, a 5-11 senior, has 232 kills and is a captain. She offers leadership galore.
Andrea Torres, a 5-8 sophomore, provides enough competitive energy for a couple of teams. Oh yes, she has 201 kills, passing the magic 200 with 13 in the win over Bonita Vista.
Zoe Rachow, a 6-foot junior, has the pedigree — consider her brother Zach, who is now at UC Davis, was an allsection football lineman. Although she’s the team’s primary setter, she also has 109 kills to go with her eye-popping 761 assists, including 47 in the five-set win over Bonita Vista.
Four players with 100-plus kills may not be that unusual with ranked teams like Cathedral Catholic, which also has four, led by multi-sport standout Kapiolani Coleman’s 147, but it’s a first for a Division II team like Otay Ranch.
“I’ve never had four players
with 100 or more kills at one time,” said Pandaan. “Plus, they’re all great athletes. I didn’t expect it this year but when Andrea joined the team, she was a perfect fit on the right side.
“It turns out she hasn’t just filled a void — she’s virtually unstoppable.”
Although the other two starters don’t have monstrous kill numbers, you wouldn’t expect that from libero Maddie Caro, who specializes in making saves, or Asia Campbell, who at 5-9 is the team’s primary blocker.
While each player has her own personality, the one thing they have in common is a rock-solid belief they can win Division II, where they are currently ranked No. 2 behind an Olympian team they’ve already beaten twice. All of the losses have been to D1 teams, including the lone league loss, 2-1, to Eastlake. Otay Ranch also owns a 2-1 win over the Titans
Improvement: After getting beaten 3-0 to open the season against San Marcos, the Mustangs fell 2-1 to the Knights in a tournament
match 11 games later. Setbacks have also come to Carlsbad, Scripps Ranch and Patrick Henry — in a 3-2 struggle.
Rachow has seen the unity as the season has progressed when in the last 15 games, the only setback was on the road at Eastlake.
“We can win Division II, definitely,” said Rachow, who like all the others plays club volleyball as well. “We’re underrated but every day we’re getting better and better. The difference is we’re mentally stronger now.”
So how does she decide to whom to aim her passes for the kill?
“It just depends on what the other team gives us and I’m always watching,” said Rachow. “As a setter you put other people ahead of you and you need a high volleyball IQ (she has a 3.8 GPA).
“As for having 100 kills, I’d much rather get an assist than a kill but you need to have a lot of tools in your toolbox if you’re going to play this sport.”