Glendora, CA (Volleyball) – Sophomore opposite hitter Tracy Lofgren usually gets lost in the shuffle playing beside Kelly Fink and Lucero Vargas. She usually manages to take care of the intangibles for the Lady Owl’s, willing to be a good sidekick. On Sophomore night, and the Lady Owl’s final regular season home game, Lofgren blossomed and took her turn in the spotlight, leading the Lady Owl’s to a 3-1 victory over LA Pierce, who was previously undefeated in conference play.
Lofgren had a season high 13 kills, 2nd best for the Lady Owl’s, while leading the team in kill percentage with a .263 clip, the only Owl to hit above .200. The Lady Owl’s benefited from her play when they needed it most in their 30-28, 30-24, 16-30, and 30-26 defeat of the Brahma Bull’s.
In the first game both teams came out with their guns blazing. Both teams had their best hitting percentages of the night in that first frame with the Bulls at a .273 clip and the Owl’s at a .244 clip. The Lady Owl’s started off on the right foot, winning the first point of the match on a monstrous kill from Kelly Fink. The Lady Owl’s would jump out to a 10-6 lead. The Brahma’s wouldn’t go away, however, and they battled back tying the score 8 times in the first frame. The Lady Owl’s momentarily lost the lead with the game tied at 23 after a Lucero Vargas attack error. The Lady Owl’s fought back tying the game back up at 24. Citrus would take the lead and run with it winning the first game 30-28.
In the 2nd game the Lady Owl’s hit their stride. After battling back and forth, the Lady Owl’s final grabbed a hold of the lead after two Jennifer Washington aces to put the score at 4-3. The Lady Owl’s would win 4 straight points, and never look back putting the Brahma’s away 30-24.
The 3rd frame proved to be the worst for Citrus, with the Lady Owl’s team kill percentage at an atrocious .038. LA Pierce capitalized, only losing the lead once at 5-5, before going on a tear and winning 30-16.
While the Owl’s waited until their 3rd game to have their worst game of the night, the Brahmas quickly had things turn south in the 4th. Hitting at a .059 kill percentage, the Brahma’s endured 5 lead changes, before the Owl’s finally took hold. At 17 all, LA Pierce’s Jenna Novelli committed an attack error, giving the Owl’s a 1 point lead. Lauren Bjorklund would hit home a kill, and the Vargas would get an ace putting the Owl’s up by 2. The Owl’s would never relinquish the lead, with the game and match ending on a Bjorklund kill.
In the win Fink led all Lady Owl’s in kills with 18, and tied for the lead in digs with Stephanie Gautier with each recording 22. Janelle Martinez had 48 assists, and Lucero Vargas ended her night with 11 kills and 10 digs.
With the win the Lady Owl’s improve to 17-3 and 10-2 in WSC play. The Owl’s have one final regular season game on the road, as they face Glendale College on Friday for a 7:00 pm match-up.
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