Once the intensity picked up, the Live Oak High girls volleyball
team’s play picked up with it and it rallied back from a two games
to none deficit. Unfortunately for the Acorns, it proved to be a
little too late and they lost to Milpitas in five games at home
Tuesday.
Morgan Hill – Once the intensity picked up, the Live Oak High girls volleyball team’s play picked up with it and it rallied back from a two games to none deficit.
Unfortunately for the Acorns, it proved to be a little too late and they lost to Milpitas in five games at home Tuesday.
“I should have many, many gray hairs,” Live Oak coach Laura Coleman said after her team dropped a tough 25-23, 25-20, 21-25, 25-23, 15-13 match to the Trojans. “We just haven’t gotten in our little groove yet.”
After storming back to win the third and fourth games, the Acorns took a 5-1 lead in the decisive fifth game. But four straight points by Milpitas tied it and the Trojans eventually pushed the lead to 14-10. Live Oak showed it still had some fight in it by rattling off three points in a row to make it 14-13, but a service error finally clinched it for Milpitas.
“These drive me nuts,” said senior setter Sabrina La Corte, who had 26 assists and five aces. “These are games that you have to step up and when you lose it kills you because we work so hard at practice.”
The Acorns (3-6) are playing without the services of senior middle hitter and co-captain Katarina Cinkova, who is out indefinitely with an injured back. Among those who stepped up in her absence were senior Laura Dudek, who recorded a team-high 14 kills and was a big catalyst in the comeback to force the fifth game.
“After losing two games, it takes a lot for a team to come back and win the next one,” Dudek said. “For us to come back and win those two, it’s really big of our team.”
Live Oak went 3-4 and won its division during the High Sierra Invitational in Reno over the weekend, and Coleman is still trying out different lineups to see what works best.
“I just keep throwing in different lineups and hope one clicks and as soon as one does I just stick with it for awhile,” she said. “Once they get the confidence back that they can play, then we can do well.”
The first two games were both close affairs throughout, but each time Milpitas gutted it out in the end. Before the start of the third game, several members of the team did their best to rally the troops and the team came out more aggressive.
Despite falling behind 5-1 in the third game, Live Oak fought back. Trailing 9-6, the Acorns scored three straight points and kept the pressure on and took an 18-14 lead before winning 25-21.
The fourth game was all Live Oak early, as it took a 7-1 lead and reached game point at 24-16. Then it became Milpitas’ turn to strike back. The Trojans scored seven straight points to make it 24-23, before La Corte set up a Katie Armstrong kill to finally give Live Oak a 25-23 win.
But in the end the inability to come through in the first two game cost the Acorns and the loss in the the fifth game gave the win to Milpitas.
“We just needed to keep our intensity from the beginning going,” La Corte said. “It was too laxadasical. When the tempo gets slow, it just throws off the whole mood of the game.”
Sukhjit Athwal led Milpitas with 17 kills and senior setter Luisa Musika had 28 assists.
