The Girls’ Varsity Volleyball team faced off against cross-town rival Warren, on Oct. 20, at the Bears’ turf and kept them from winning a single round.

Tension was high in Warren’s gym before the teams came out to warm-up.

“We were either going to do really good or really bad,” senior Megan Kirkpatrick said.

The crowd slowly grew with supporters of both teams. As the clock wound down to zero, the cheerleaders of both teams introduced the starters and soon enough, the game had begun.

From the beginning of the game, it was obvious teams wanted to win, but slowly in the first round, the Downey girls increased their lead over Warren. When one team scored a point, it was like the whole school scored and they all celebrated together.

Throughout the round, there were “chant fights” between both sides of the bleachers. The main chant coming from Warren’s side of the court just consisted of the crowd cheering, “War-ren! War-ren!” over and over again. The Downey crowd mocked their chant with, “Score-board! Score-board!” The catalysts for the majority of Downey’s chants were some of the players on the boys’ varsity basketball team. Covered in gold glitter and red paint, the basketball players took off their shirts and spelled the word “Smash!” in support of the girls. Consumed with passion, the boys cheered and rooted for their team until administrators from Warren told the boys to put their shirts back on because of an unspecified C.I.F. rule.

“We’re friends with a lot of the girls on the team,” said senior Tyler Ellis, “and we wanted to show our support.”

Their consistent chanting caught on with the rest of the crowd and there was no stopping them. Meanwhile, Downey’s girls stayed ahead long enough to win the first round 25-23.

The second round was similar to the first. Both teams continued to play their hardest and showed no signs of giving up early. The Downey team played tough defense against the Bears and held them to 18 points in the second round. Since Downey won this round, as well as the first, one started to realize that the game might end sooner than expected.

The third, and what ended-up as the final round of the game, was played shrouded in chants and cheers coming from Downey’s side of the bleachers. Warren’s morale dropped after the second round, and it was evident their crowd was getting discouraged, too. Even though Warren’s girls faced defeat, they put up a fight in the last round by keeping the score close throughout the round. It was too little too late, and in the end, the Downey team beat Warren with a score of 25-22. The crowd cheered with excitement as the last point was marked, thus sealing Warren’s downfall.

“I was proud of my team,” senior Jessica Dorado said after the game. “We worked together, and we didn’t let each other down.”

Downey’s athletes fought hard to beat Warren, and when they did, they left the gym with their heads held high.