The Chargers finished with a 9-5 league mark in 2004, good enough for fourth place. This year's squad has its eye on improving that.

"Our team this year has already proved to have a lot of heart and character," coach Trish Moore said. "The girls work hard and are extremely dedicated to their sport. Their goal this year is to place in the top three in league and qualify for CCS."

The Chargers will look for leadership from the three team captains--senior Stephanie Kato, junior Chaulet Scala and junior Joyce Chang. They will also have a solid base to build upon with all but two team members returning with varsity experience from last year. In addition to the three captains, returnees include seniors Margo Consul, Caryn Mohr and Caroline Underwood, juniors Grace Chang and Kelly McDaniel and sophomores Vicki Chang and Debbie Gillick. New varsity members include senior Justine Johnson and sophomore Kat Beheshti.

The Chargers have been racking up plenty of playing time competing in two tournaments. In the annual Milpitas Spikefest, Leland opened the tourney with a win over Homestead before losing three, including one to perennial powerhouse Mitty. The Chargers closed out the tournament with a solid win over fellow Mt. Hamilton Division member, Westmont, to claim 13th place in the tourney.

Leland went on the road for a tournament in Reno and sandwiched five wins between an opening and closing round loss, which resulted in a 14th-place finish in the tournament.

In addition to the tournament competition, the Chargers claimed a couple of non-league wins over Milpitas and Live Oak. Mohr and G. Chang led the Chargers to a 3-1 win over Milpitas, knocking down nine kills each. Leland prevailed by the scores of 26-24, 24-26, 25-22, 25-17. It was Scala taking charge against Live Oak and nailing 15 kills from her outside hitter spot. Leland grabbed the 3-1 win with scores of 25-20, 25-27, 25-21, 25-13.

The Live Oak win gave Leland a 9-6 record and closed out non-league competition for the Chargers. Leland was scheduled to open Mt. Hamilton Division play on the road earlier this week at Independence. The Chargers follow that by traveling to Westmont on Sept. 22 for a 6 p.m. match.

"Everyone on the roster contributes to the success of this team, but at any point in time the line-up can be changed and people moved around," Moore added. "The difference between this year and previous years is that the players have the ability to play multiple positions. That is a very comforting thing for a coach."

Pioneer continued to tune up for BVAL West Valley Division play with some pretty stiff non-league competition. Last week, the Mustangs went up against Mission San Jose, Notre Dame Belmont and Silver Creek--all teams in stronger leagues. While the Mustangs played well, they came up short in each of the contests and were still looking for their first win of the season while dropping to 0-8 at week's end.

Vanessa Hooke led the Mustangs with three kills in a strong effort against Mission San Jose, who squeaked out a 3-0 win 25-21, 25-20, 25-23. Pioneer was unable to get many hits against a dominant Notre Dame Belmont team, but Hooke and Erin Lee nailed two kills each. Silver Creek prevailed 25-17, 25-17, 25-12 for a 3-0 win.

Pioneer was scheduled to open West Valley Division play by hosting Yerba Buena earlier this week and will travel to Prospect for a 5 p.m. contest on Sept. 22.