The crowd roared as Buena’s boys varsity volleyball huddled for their first rivalry game of the season, March 11, 2025 at Ventura High School. Going in knowing difficult and taxing competition was upon them, Bulldog spirits ran low, ending in a 3-0 set loss for Buena.

After the traditional joint singing of the National Anthem by both teams and all spectators, the Bulldogs and Cougars shook hands while the announcer named each player. Picking up energy in the huddle, Buena was ready for a tough fight.

Starting off the first of three sets, the Cougars quickly scored the first point, immediately giving them a lead and morale boost. Strong on both sides, the set was back and forth between each team, both scoring often. Although it was close until the end, the Cougars won the first set 25-17.

“We got the jitters out,” senior Jacob Grimes (#4) said. “We were nervous in the first set because it’s an important game. Once that second set started, everyone just went back to their roots and started doing what they knew how to.”

As the second set took off, the Bulldogs took a three point lead fairly quickly, allowing them to gain confidence as they headed into a vital set. Although it was very back and forth again, Ventura climbed quickly, getting ahead 13-10 before a timeout could be called.

“Everytime we called a timeout,” senior Benjamin Medina (#5) said. “It was just our time to take a breath, back up, and take a look at the whole picture and realize what needs to be done.”

Leaving their huddle, Buena’s spirits seemed to soar as cheers were called from the sidelines, eventually leading to a 14-14 score in no time.

“We got really positive, really loud and we started to score. As long as we were positive, we seemed to do really well,” Medina said.

Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the energy seemed to wear off as simple mistakes were made time and time again. While all the serves were going over the net, stress took over the players’ minds after multiple attempts to score failed and Ventura racked up points. The Cougars won the second set by five points.

“I felt our demeanors started changing. We started getting upset at everything, even if we won a point, we wouldn’t celebrate,” Grimes said.

With low confidence felt both in the stands and on the court, the Cougars rose fast, earning seven points before Buena could score one. As Medina served five points in a row, hope  seemed to rise with the scoreboard, even as the Cougars kept a strong lead. 

“We understood that if we wanted to try to win, we needed to go further than usual,” Grimes said. “We started talking to each other, and that eventually started working, but near the end of the third set, it just left.”

After another timeout was called, Buena held Ventura back from their winning point, with a score of 24-14, Ventura. While the effort was there, the Bulldogs hit the ball out of the court, ending the game with a 25-18 loss.

“We have got to move past it in [our next] games,” Medina said. “We need to leave this loss in the past and just move on.”