WILLIAMS, CA (MPG) – A short-handed Yellowjacket squad could not find its rhythm last Tuesday night and as a result were swept by the visiting Panthers 9-25, 15-25, 16-25 in the second preseason meeting between the two county rivals.
Maxwell’s Fatima Cano dominated the match as evidenced by her stat line that included 13 kills, eight assists, seven blocks and five aces.
Also helping the Panthers’ cause was setter Olivia Roa, who distributed 14 assists, in addition to Lyla Barrett who finished with seven kills and Erin Dennis with five more.
Defensively, Allie Wills made nine digs for Maxwell.
Meanwhile, Williams struggled to stay in system and was led by Yurydia Rocha’s five kills.
However, the ‘Jackets did bounce back somewhat at the Hamilton City Tournament which ran from Sept. 5-7, where they went 3-2, by beating Paradise, Live Oak and Princeton while falling to CORE Butte and Oroville.
Coach Darren Robinson was happy to see his team perform better despite being down a starter.
“Our best games were against Oroville on Thursday and Princeton on Saturday,” Robinson said. “We played without Estefany Carabeo on Saturday so Jazlene Velazquez stepped up in the front row and Andrea Velazquez took over at middle back.”
Robinson also pointed to the performance of setter Ariana Paiz, who he said “did a great job of getting everyone involved” and also to the effort of Daisy Ruiz, who “served very well and controlled the back row while playing under the weather.”
As for the Panthers, they completed last week with a win over Winters, although no other information was provided.
Williams (7-8) was in action at home on Monday and Tuesday entertaining Willows and Pierce respectively, while Maxwell (9-8) squared off against Los Molinos at home on Sept. 9 before traveling to Chico to play Core Butte the following evening.