Glendora, CA (Volleyball) – “Close is for horse shoes and hand grenades.” Or so they say. When it comes to athletic competition most of the time, close just isn’t enough. When it comes to a young and inexperienced Citrus College volleyball squad however, close is pretty good when you are talking about a match with the state’s 8th ranked LA Pierce College. If nothing else, the Lady Owls secured a moral victory tonight, to let the rest of the WSC know that they haven’t fallen to far, as they lost in four games, 22-30, 28-30, 30-24, 29-31.
Despite a slow start in the first game, the Lady Owls controlled much of Friday night’s match beginning in the second frame. After losing by eight points in the first set, the Lady Owls would capitalize on some timely kills and Pierce errors to jump out to a seven point 17-10 lead midway through the second. The Brahma’s would peck away at the Citrus lead, but Citrus would still lead by five after a Becca Dean kill and Kellie Hall ace would make it 26-21. After a time out by Pierce coach Nabil Mardini, the Brahmas responded with a 9-2 run over the final 11 points to take the second game 30-28.
In the third game, the Lady Owls tried to continue what they started in the second game by jumping out to another early lead. After back to back service aces by Citrus’ Kara Lacuesta the Lady Owls would have a comfortable 12-4 lead. Pierce would pull to within one point at 19-18, but after Jazelle Rodriguez slammed home two kills in a span of four points Citrus pulled away for good to take game three 30-24.
In the fourth and final frame, it was the Brahma’s who would jump out to an early lead after a kill by Pierce’s Vanessa Murray gave them a 9-3 lead. On the very next point however, the tides began to turn as an Alex Arguelles kill help set off a run from Citrus to pull within two points at 8-10. The Brahmas would hold the Lady Owls at a distance until a kill by Dean pulled Citrus within one point at 14-15. The Brahmas answered the Citrus kill with an attack error, and after Hall hit home another kill, the Lady Owls secured their first lead of the fourth game at 16-15.
Citrus would push their lead to three points, but Pierce tied the game back at 19-19 after another Murray kill. The Brahmas would then begin to pull away taking a three point lead, but the Owls proved resilient tying the game up yet again at 27 a piece after another Hall kill. From there the game would be tied up twice more with each team taking a lead. With the game tied back at 29-29, Pierce would finally put the game away for good with back to back kills by Tara Henn and Terry Soltani.
In the loss, the Lady Owls were led by Kellie Hall who had a match high 17 kills at a .412 kill percentage clip. Citrus also had three players tie for the team high in digs with Jazelle Rodriguez, Becca Dean, and Mackenzie Pike each chipping in with 13 digs a piece. Janelle Martinez rounded out the Citrus box score with 35 assists.
With the loss the Lady Owls fall to 7-12 and 2-3 in conference play. The game against Pierce marks the half-way point of their WSC South slate as they begin the second round of conference play on Tuesday. Citrus will hit the road Tuesday for their second match of the year against Glendale College. The Lady Owls took the first meeting in four games. Game time is set for 7:00 PM.
Box Score