COLUSA, CA (MPG) – Despite putting up a battle against county and Sacramento Valley League rival Pierce last Tuesday evening, the Colusa volleyball team let one slip away as they fell in five sets by scores of 25-21, 24-26, 21-25, 25-21, 12-15.
With energy filling Don Bransford Gymnasium, the RedHawks came out swinging hard, blocking efficiently, digging everything and capitalizing on errors by the Bears.
14.
And although miscues down the stretch allowed Pierce to cut the lead to four, Colusa ended the first set with a kill by Abby Coronado, one of her team-high 18 on the night.
Yet despite the initial setback, Pierce captured the second set coming from behind by taking advantage of two straight RedHawk errors before Leah Charter’s kill tied the match at 1-1.
As the two squads split the next two sets slugging away like heavyweight fighters, the tension mounted in the fifth and final set.
Although Colusa had the early advantage at 6-1, the Bears’ Rylie Delepierre got Pierce back in it with a kill and three straight aces, before teammate Nita Rodriguez put away a ball to make the score 7-7.
As the teams continued to battle for every point, the momentum swung in the Bears’ favor for good with Leslye Velasquez at the service line and some inspired play by Delepierre and Charter at the net.
In the end, it was a thunderous kill by Delepierre that allowed Pierce to escape with the hard-fought victory.
Although virtually tied in terms hitting percentage, at .120 and .121, Colusa made 10 more errors on the attack than Piece and was out-served 93 percent to 83 by the Bears.
In addition to Coronado, who also accounted for four blocks, Peyton Miller and Cecilia Mitchum finished with 15 and 13 kills respectively, while Cindel Oliver handed out 40 assists.
Mitchum and Oliver both made 20 digs, Miller recorded 18, with Braelyn Santana and Marlie Berry each ending the match with 13.
Meanwhile for Pierce, Charter’s stat line included 18 kills and 15 digs, while Delepierre logged 16 kills and six blocks.
Magali Jauregui dished out a game-high 43 assists and made 22 digs, while in the back row, Velasquez, the Bear libero, did her job registering 42 digs and 40 service receptions.
Pierce also got some key play from Destany Martinez with 19 digs, along with Charlie Wayman and Alondra Barrera who made 18 and nine digs respectively.
In its second match last week, the Bears had an easier go of it downing Paradise 25-12, 25-7, 25-10 behind Wayman’s 11 kills and 17 digs.
However, more impressively the RedHawks bounced backed two nights later to stun visiting East Nicolaus 25-23, 25-23, 17-25, 25-18 with some scrappy play that kept the Spartans out of system for most of the evening.
Miller led the attack with 15 kills, Mitchum contributed 13 and Coronado pitched in with 10.
Oliver, in addition to making 22 assists finished with 19 service points including seven aces.
Spearheading the defensive effort, Berry made 15 digs, Miller had 13 and Leyla Avera added 12.
This week both teams close out the regular season with Colusa (22-11, 6-4) traveling to Durham on Oct. 22 before returning home to face Paradise the following evening, while Pierce (23-8, 8-2) was on the road to play East Nicolaus on Tuesday and Winters on Thursday.