Beach volleyball matches are often decided at the #3 pairs line. While the 1’s and 2’s garner the most attention, it is the hard work of the lower pairs – the 3’s, 4’s and 5’s – that swings a match in the winning team’s favor.

Such is the case with West Valley’s Sydney Pista. The sophomore from San Jose’s Leigh High School has teamed with Kayla Rauscher for eight wins at the 3’s line, including a match-clinching 21-13, 17-21, 15-6 victory over De Anza’s Itzel Jimenez and Alex Yee last week.

Pista has been a familiar sight the last two years for the back-to-back Coast-South champion Viking indoor team, as well. The 6-0 middle blocker earned All-Coast First Team honors in 2023 after being named to the All-Coast Second Team in 2022.