By Stephen Ramirez
steve.ramirez@langnews.com
@SteveRRamirez on Twitter
HACIENDA HEIGHTS >> Los Altos High School has been the dominant girls volleyball team in the Hacienda League the previous two seasons, and the Conquerors aren’t quite ready to give up the title.
Mireya Rojo and Esmeralda Reynoso had 14 kills each and host Los Altos withstood a late charge from Walnut to get back in the league race with a 25-23, 25-19, 13-25, 22-25, 15-11 victory on Tuesday.
The Conquerors, also getting eight kills from Danielle Hernandez and seven from Sahra Chavez, improved to 11-9 overall and into a first-place tie with the Mustangs, each at 4-1 in league play. Diamond Ranch was 3-1 going into a league match vs. West Covina on Tuesday.
Kuuipo Vaimaona had 18 kills and Shirley Zhao 12 for Walnut, which slipped to 11-9 and 4-1.
Los Altos came up big late. The Conquerors, after giving up sets 3 and 4, broke a 10-10 in the fifth set and took a 14-11 lead following an ace by Vanessa Cuenca and consecutive kills by Rojo.
Vaimaona, who had 10 kills in the third and fourth sets to force a fifth, then mis-fired on a spike that went wide, giving the match to Los Altos.
Los Altos’ Mireya Rojo: “This win was amazing. We needed it so much. It was five sets, but we got it.”
Walnut’s Kuuipo Vaiamaona: “I was really surprised we came back. It was going to be hard, but I knew we could do it. We have enough heart to come back. I’m really proud of my team.”