Morgan Hill – At 2-5 the Live Oak girls volleyball team is off
to a slow start in 2007, but the season is just under way. Taking
on the Leland Chargers Wednesday in their first home game of the
season, the Lady Acorns were defeated in three straight games
11-25, 18-25, and 22-25.
Morgan Hill – At 2-5 the Live Oak girls volleyball team is off to a slow start in 2007, but the season is just under way.
Taking on the Leland Chargers Wednesday in their first home game of the season, the Lady Acorns were defeated in three straight games 11-25, 18-25, and 22-25.
“We were just starting to get warmed up,” head coach Laura Coleman said.
Live Oak looked flat in the first game as they scrambled and dove to keep the ball alive and get it over the net, but found momentum in the second game behind the solid play of freshman Gabriella Cinkova, sophomore Annie Reyes-Ortiz and seniors Katie Armstrong and Gabriella Leach.
Down 4-14 in game two, Cinkova and senior Arica Hernandez teamed up to make two nice blocks and start an Acorn surge.
At the 9-15 mark, Live Oak rallied with Leland until Reyes-Ortiz made a leaping kill bringing the score to 10-15.
While unable to slow the Chargers effort, Live Oak matched Leland point for point bringing the score to 17-24.
Facing another defeat, Cinkova kept the Acorns alive with a kill to make the score 18-24, but that would be Live Oak’s last point in the game.
Down 2-0, and needing a win to stay alive in the match, the Acorns broke to an early 4-0 lead in game three.
The Chargers, however, quickly went on the offensive to even the score and take the lead, never looking back.
Reyes-Ortiz had a kill to cut the Chargers lead to 17-20, and a few plays later Armstrong kept fans on the edge of their seats with a kill to keep the Acorns within striking distance at 21-23.
But the Chargers maintained composure and sealed the game at 22-25 to take home a victory.
Armstrong had seven kills, Reyes-Ortiz and Hernandez each had five kills, and Hernandez finished with three.
As captain of the week, chosen by Coleman, Leach led the Acorns’ defensive effort with 23 digs.
“We can play smarter, and based on the first two games, we definitely weren’t playing up to skill,” Leach said. “We had some really good kills by Katie Armstrong, but we all need to start on a more positive note.”
Coaching around injuries, Coleman was forced to use different lineups, and knew her team would be in for a tough match.
“They are very well coached and they seem to have a lot of techniques,” Coleman said of the Chargers. “After the first game, which was scary looking, we were all right, but they kept after us.”
