The Dave Mohs Tournament is a good test for any girls volleyball team.
The tournament begins Friday with games at Edison, Huntington Beach, Marina, Newport Harbor and Ocean View high schools and concludes Saturday.
It will be especially challenging for a young team like San Clemente.
The Tritons (8-4) are ranked No. 6 in the Orange County Top 10. They beat county No. 9 Edison in three sets Tuesday. Their losses are to No. 1 Mater Dei, No. 4 Beckman, No. 5 JSerra and Edison.
San Clemente’s one senior who is a major contributor is outside hitter Sofia Williams.
The Tritons’ top players include sophomores like left-handed Makenzie Granum, who plays opposite hitter sometimes but mostly is a setter, a somewhat new position for her. There are also middle blocker Megan Dougherty and outside hitter Ashton Nelson.
Then there are juniors like outside hitter Quinn Loper and middle blocker Pyper Nelson, older sister of Ashton, and libero Callan Johnson and setter Anna Fischer.
Williams likes the way her team plays and works together.
“Our energy this season is great,” said Williams, a 4.0-plus GPA student who committed to Yale. “The girls all get along so well. No drama, great attitudes.”
As for being the only senior who plays regularly …
“I didn’t even notice that until recently,” she said. “I always try to talk to the girls and keep them excited and help them brush off their mistakes. Maybe tell them a joke or give them something else to think about.”
The Mohs tournament has two pools, Division 1 and Division 2. The 16-team Division 1 pool has seven of the top eight teams in the county rankings: No. 1 Mater Dei, No. 2 Huntington Beach, No. 3 Santa Margarita, No. 4 Beckman, No. 5 JSerra, No. 6 San Clemente and No. 8 San Juan Hills.
Among the non-O.C. teams in the Division 1 pool are San Diego’s Cathedral Catholic, which was 42-0 last season and named national champions by MaxPreps.com.
The Division 2 pool is good too, with Corona del Mar…
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