Aces, Sets, and Digs, Oh My! Mock and Stone Lead Wilcox to Impressive Win

The Wilcox Chargers beat the Lions in four sets on Sept. 3 thanks to a 12-0 service run by Kelsey Mock and strong hitting by Hanako Stone.

“Holy jumpin’!” is the catch phrase of long-time hockey broadcaster Darren Pang for whenever something extremely exciting happens in a game. Those were the exact words going through this writer’s mind while witnessing the incredibly impressive finish to a high school volleyball game between the Wilcox Chargers and Lincoln Lions.

After an evenly matched first two sets saw the teams tied at one, Wilcox surged forward in sets three and four to win in comfortable fashion. What made the fourth-and-final set truly remarkable, though, was the fact that Wilcox senior Kelsey Mock nailed the hammer in the coffin with authority. Mock ended the game on a 12-0 service run. Half of the final dozen points came via service ace, including the set-clinching and game-clinching 25th point. Holy jumpin’!

When asked after the match if it was the longest service run she has ever had, the humble senior joked that it certainly was the longest this year.

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“Not this season,” chuckled the senior on her service run, before speaking to the overall team’s success. “Our goals this year have been to work together since we are a younger team, and to make CCS, obviously. Tonight, I felt like we all really had a drive to win.”

While the Chargers do have multiple freshmen and sophomores contributing at the varsity level this season, the team is led by the senior combination of Mock and Hanako Stone. The dynamic duo of setter (Mock) and outside hitter (Stone) is quite the feat to watch. Having played together on varsity over three seasons now, their chemistry on the court makes the Wilcox offense run like a well-oiled machine.

“Playing together for three years, our chemistry is like no other,” remarked Mock. “We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses; we know how to bring each other up. I think our connection is one of those where we just know how to adjust to each other.”

“I think trust is a big thing,” noted Stone on her chemistry with Mock. “I trust her to always get it to me. She’s a really consistent setter. She’s always able to push it to me no matter where she is on the court.”

Mock’s consistent setting abilities set up her game-ending service run when she assisted on a powerful spike from Stone to tie the score at 13-13. Watching the sweet music the duo makes together on the court does not get old. Unfortunately, Chargers Head Coach April Lujan didn’t get to watch it as the long-time coach missed a rare game due to illness.

“Oh, it’s a lot of fun,” beamed Assistant Coach Arianna Nuti on watching Mock and Stone work their magic. “They are both captains right now, and with April being out, they actually called a team meeting before the game. We have been watching them off the court, just kind of setting the standard. Tonight, they told the rest of the girls, ‘Hey, we might be down a coach, doesn’t mean we can’t still compete.’ So, it was very cool to see the girls make sure the team knew we were gonna rally even with April not here.”

Rally, they did, beating the Lions 25-23, 23-25, 25-14, 25-13.

After beating the Lions, Wilcox will open its league season on Thursday, Sept. 11, when it plays at Cupertino.