WOODLAND HILLS — Cheering, celebrating and lots of candy.
The favorite for this year’s Castaic girls volleyball team? Hi-Chew. Bite-sized snacks that are fruit flavored and don’t melt in your hands.
Sounds a lot like the way Castaic has been growing as a program after finishing its first winning record after having its first varsity volleyball season in 2021.
“It’s how we get ready for games,” Castaic senior Bella Flores said.
At the core of it all are the energetic 5-foot-7 outside hitter Flores and 5-foot-4 outside hitter Alle Lewis.
Castaic (3-1) is hoping to take its experience from Taft as a learning lesson after getting swept on the road. There were plenty of positives for the Coyotes in the loss.
Flores and Lewis ignited a rally in a series of runs after trailing 12-2 in the second set.
Lewis and Flores kept connecting and tied the score at 24-24 before Taft coach Arman Mercado called a timeout.
Hi-Chew, celebrating the points and using every shortcoming as an opportunity to bond are part of the themes for Castaic as the program continues building and growing into a program that can compete in the Foothill League like West Ranch, Hart and Valencia.
“It was actually a really good game the whole time,” Lewis said. “We never got down, and we just learned about our team.”
Flores echoed Lewis’ confidence.
“It’s a next ball mentality,” Flores said. “Just keep playing your heart out until it’s the very last point. Next ball mentality, and we are going to learn a lot from this.”