SALINAS
– The Lady Mustang volleyball team suffered its second straight
league loss Tuesday night to Notre Dame-Salinas – dropping a 15-8,
2-15, 3-15, 2-15 decision on the road.
SALINAS – The Lady Mustang volleyball team suffered its second straight league loss Tuesday night to Notre Dame-Salinas – dropping a 15-8, 2-15, 3-15, 2-15 decision on the road.
The girls seem out of sink all night. While the hustle was there, the ball just did not bounce their way.
“This game was all my fault,” head coach Sam Navarez said. “We tried new things, tried new people in different positions.”
Which was difficult for the Lady Mustangs because Notre Dame had two big hitters – Sara Rosso and Megan Pura – who just poured on kill after kill.
In the first game, Gilroy came out with a house of fire in taking a 5-0 lead. Junior Lourella Palao started the scoring with a big kill that got things going. Then three great serves by senior Laura Zapata flustered Notre Dame – which failed to get the ball over the net and allowed Gilroy to take a 6-1 lead.
The Lady Mustangs continued to give Notre Dame problems with their scrappy play by refusing to let a ball touch the ground. Gilroy stole the first game, 15-8, and looked to be in total control.
“As long as we play within ourselves we will be fine,” Navarez said.
But when the two teams came out to play in the second game, Notre Dame was a completely different unit. Coming out with six-foot star Megan Pura – who was by far the most dominant player on the court. Pura pounded the ball into the ground continuously, leading the Lady Dons to a lopsided victory in game-two, 15-3.
The Lady Mustangs did not know what hit them. The high point in that game was three aces from from Kassi Thomas and Zapata. No matter how hard the girls tried it was a difficult task trying to control the big kills of Pura.
In the third game, Notre Dame started where they left off – taking two aces right off the bat, then getting a kill by Pura once again. Notre Dame did not skip a beat in game-three – leading 12-1 at one point. The Lady Mustangs struggled to set up spike attempts with great serves and placement of the ball by Notre Dame.
In the fourth and final game, Notre Dame just took it to Gilroy refusing to let them back in the game. The killer instinct of Notre Dame was unmatchable as the Lady Mustangs dropped the last game, 15-2 and the match 3-1. To add some fuel to the fire, Notre Dame ended the game with a stuff block that landed straight down in front of three Gilroy players.
“We will be fine, height did not kill us,” Navarez said. “It was all my fault, I tried new things and it did not work.”
Up next, the garlic spikers have a Wednesday night clash against North Salinas at 6 p.m.
