MID-CITIES LEAGUE GIRLS VOLLEYBALL: Pak, Prowse Guide Whitney’s Sweep Over Norwalk to Clinch a Share of League Title

October 7, 2026

By Loren Kopff
@LorenKopff on X

With the Mid-Cities League title on the line, the last thing Norwalk High anticipated was being swept by league-leading Whitney High, considering the first meeting back on Sept. 17 went five sets. But this past Tuesday with the stakes higher, the Lancers never got into a groove and in fact, they were trailing 7-0 right out of the gates.

In the end, senior outside hitter Emma Prowse led everyone with 17 kills and five aces while sophomore outside hitter Pressley Pak added nine kills and had five aces as the Wildcats (21-7, 6-0) posted a 25-8, 26-24, 25-15 victory. This is the first league championship for the girls volleyball program since 2024 and third since 2000 when the ‘Cats were in the Delphic League.

“It’s a great feeling to be champs of this new Mid-Cities League,” said Whitney head coach Mark Kato. “The competition was strong; I’m very proud of our team [and] we have great senior leadership. This is our year to make a run.”

The match began with a run to Whitney’s liking as the Lancers were called for a rotation violation before senior setter Janelle Sales began serving. Then came six more points, half coming off aces and the other two coming from a net violation and a double hit infraction.

Norwalk (16-10, 4-2) would not score more than two straight points in the set and the eight points scored were the fewest the team had put together in any set this season. In fact, the Lancers have dropped the first set 10 times, seven coming in a non-tournament match as they were seeking to get a piece of the program’s first league title since 2023 and third since 2013.

“I think, for the most part, all season we’ve kind of been playing really well,” said Norwalk head coach Paola Nava. “Going back to round one with Whitney, we knew going in it was going to be a competitive match. Whitney has a great program and has great coaching. We kind of gave them a run for their money [on Sept. 17], but also, again, it’s hard, for sure.”

With the score 16-6, Prowse put down her third kill, followed by two straight from Pak as Prowse served four straight points. Those two would combine for nine of the 14 kills Whitney collected in the set.

“We got off to a strong start, established that we can serve competitively and we go as [Sales] goes,” said Kato. “She has great hands; always puts the sets in hittable places.”

“I think it’s just more so…maybe being a little too comfortable being on home court,” said Nava. “But there’s really not much we can do when mentally they’re struggling. But I think today it was definitely a mental battle; a mental aspect that we showed. It certainly wasn’t skill since we went five sets in round one. But I think today was more so a mental challenge.”

The second set would be better as there were five ties and the lead would change hands once by the time the score got to 7-7. The Lancers would have leads of 12-7 in the first rotation and 18-11 early in the second rotation before Whitney began to chip away little by little as Pak and Prowse continued their dominance, combining for eight of the 11 kills in the set.

The eighth kill of the match by Norwalk senior middle blocker Mirei Sanchez made it a 20-14 advantage and the second kill from sophomore middle blocker Lailanee Cano still had the Lancers in front 22-19.

But the only kill in the match from outside hitter Naomi Neri was followed by consecutive aces from Prowse. Then at 24-24, Pak had her seventh kill, then a block. The early moments of the third set would feature four ties and two lead changes before freshman opposite hitter Maggi Cheralathan had a block leading to five straight points served by sophomore setter Kate Park.

The closest the Lancers would get in the third set was at 13-9 after sophomore outside hitter Ryann Adalla had back to back kills, her only two in the match. Pak would later add more aces to make it 19-12 and the match ended with Park serving the final four points with senior middle blocker Ashley Aranda getting half of her four kills followed by kills from Sales and Prowse.

“We were just talking about that yesterday how I saw her as a freshman and I put her in as a middle [blocker] and there was one day where she had the guts to come talk to me and say can I try outside,” said Kato of Prowse. “We haven’t looked back since. She is a very special player on and off the court, her peers respect her and she has a bright future ahead of her.

“She has grown so much,” he added on the play of Pak. “I would say she’s the most improved on the team. She has learned to hit hard, but also use all her shots, and use the tips; use the blocks. So, she’s becoming a well-rounded hitter.”

Whitney had 39 kills and 20 aces in the sweep while Sanchez had 14 of her team’s 31 kills with senior outside hitter Nataly Felix and junior outside hitter Ellejhaye Estores each adding four kills. Senior setter Madelyn Gutierrez and junior setter Mahalia Urriza each had a pair of aces, but the hosts had six for the match.

Norwalk hosted Santa Fe High on Oct. 8 and will conclude the regular season on Tuesday at Oxford Academy while the Wildcats hosted Paramount High on Oct. 8 and will visit Santa Fe on Tuesday.

“We’ve been talking about the [Whitney rematch] since we finished game point of the fifth round set in round one,” said Nava. “We knew this was going to be kind of a battle coming in, but I think at the end of the day, it’s really up to the girls, and us as coaches, to kind of put that into perspective a little bit and to kind of make them understand they have a lot on the line.”