Deer Valley boys volleyball beats Heritage, 3-1

victory to even up the series.

By Juan Cebreiros Correspondent

The Deer Valley Wolverines volleyball boys team took sole possession of first place in the Bay Valley Athletic League with a 3-1 victory over the host Heritage Patriots on Thursday, April 20.

The Patriots’ defense struggled all match long and surrendered 22 kills to Wolverines’ hitter Parker Reich and 14 to Vincent Cecilio, while the rest of the Wolverines team combined for eight kills.

“They were hitting very smartly, they didn’t need to hit hard at us, they were tipping us and our defense was not doing what it needed to be doing to cover,” Patriots head coach Janet Hannigan said of the loss.

In the Patriots’ final practice leading up to their Thursday night match-up against the Wolverines, outside starter Marcus Krepp suffered a leg injury that would force Heritage to use Alex Auldridge to replace Krepp. Auldridge led the Patriots team in kills with 13.

“He took my spot pretty well. I’m proud of him,” said Krepp.

The teams went back and forth in the opening set until with the score tied at 18

The Wolverines took the top spot in the Bay Valley Athletic League after defeating the Patriots 3-1 in their April 20 match.

In the third and fourth sets, the Patriots played from behind the entire time. Each time the Patriots managed to tie the score or cut the Wolverines’ lead to one, Deer Valley would go on a run to stretch their lead back out to four points. This kept the Wolverines in control to win the final two sets by scores of 25-18 and 2521, and the match 3-1.

“I think the right people are there. It’s just not always executing, and getting stuck in an error where we would make a mistake and couldn’t figure out how to get out of it,” Hannigan said.

Deer Valley went on a 4-0 run to take a commanding 22-18 lead. This enabled the Wolverines to win the first set 25-21.

In the second set, the teams were tied at 12 until the Patriots went on a scoring run of their own, outscoring the Wolverines 7-1 as they cruised to a 25-15 Set 2

Patriots outside hitter Titan Smallwood said, “It’s our own personal mistakes and errors; we get in our own heads. There was nothing crazy special that Deer Valley did; we just weren’t excelling at anything.” lar of support since Day 1.

With the win over the Patriots, the Wolverines take sole possession of first place in BVAL with a 7-1 record with two games remaining before playoffs. Heritage falls to second place where they are now tied with the Liberty Lions at 6-2.

Having a young family and running an online business and a physical store is no easy feat, admits Palos.

Her strength, encouragement, and support come from family, especially her husband—Juan Olmedo, and Maria.

“He (Olmedo) never tells me ‘no,’ and although it may seem impossible, he always tells me we will figure it out.

“He is the one who builds all my panels (for balloon installations) and whatnot,” said a teary-eyed Palos.

Palos’ mother, who lives in Southern California, helps fulfill online orders from all over the globe, such as the United Kingdom, China, Australia, and Spain.

As a Latino businesswoman, Palos noted that opportunities do not come around easily so she wants to ensure every sacrifice made by her family is “worth it.”

“My whole family works hard, so we need to keep pushing and growing.

“I hope my kids will have it easier when they get older,” noted Palos.

Over the past eight years, Palos has sold more than 12,000 DIY balloon decor kits and has installed hundreds of themed balloon decor artwork in the Bay Area.

Palos’ bold style and design inspiration are from her growing years in Whittier in Southern California.

“I did a lot of growing up in Southern California, and the style has a different flavor, not seen as much here.”

Palos attributes her style and inspiration to her Latino culture. “As a child, my parents would take us to different types of fairs in Los Angeles and museums where I would see both classic and modern art,” she said. “We would spend our summers in Guadalajara (Mexico) where I admired the work of many Mexican artists.”

She added as teen she fell in love with street art as she attended many art walks and underground hip hop shows.

“I think a little twinkle of my upbringing and everything I experienced peeks through in my creativity when creating art,” Palos said.

“I moved to the Bay Area 13 years ago, but I still have that Southern California in me that comes out (through my ideas and design),” she said.

Opening up a brick-and-mortar shop also means fostering closer ties and sharing her skills with the local community.

Palos said she will be conducting workshops to teach anyone interested in learning how to create balloon garlands and installations for their own parties and events.

“I also want to have some sourced items made by the locals in the community so they can have a space to advertise their products in our store,” she added.

The store is open from Tuesdays to Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon.

For more information, visit https:// soireelove.com/ or @soireelove on Instagram.