Acorns open up league schedule with a pair of wins
Acorns open up league schedule with a pair of wins
Live Oak took advantage of numerous unforced errors by Hollister Tuesday night to sweep the Tri-County Athletic League opener 25-22, 25-18, 25-17.
And the Acorns defeated North Salinas 25-15, 25-9, 25-9 on Thursday. Kristina Giacalone and Whitney Phares had six serves each.
Coach Laura Coleman said the last time the Acorns (11-7, 2-0 TCAL) swept their southern rival Hollister was toward the beginning of her eight-year tenure with the team. Both teams are rebuilding this year after losing several quality players last year.
“I have three sophomores on the team,” Coleman said. “Two of which are normally playing at one time. Even though we have some seniors, we are still a young team.”
The three sophomores are Kristen Giacalone, Heather Harms and Kristen Russ.
Coleman has had a tough time putting together a starting lineup this year.
Harms is still out with a foot injury, and Russ sprained her ankle in the game against Leland. After the second setter quit, Coleman had to go back to the 5-1 after originally practicing with a 4-2 scheme.
And then there was getting all the transfer papers in order for middle blocker Sarah Lusenti, a senior exchange student from Italy who played in her first match this year on Tuesday after waiting for final clearance.
“She hustles and she isn’t afraid,” Coleman said. “She is a good player. It will take a little time for her to get adjusted. She is learning a lot of different stuff.”
“It is completely different – very quick,” said Lusenti in her broken English. “They are more athletic here. The setter is more precise and smarter. It is more competitive. I like this team. Everyone practices hard.”
In the first game especially, whenever Hollister (7-9, 0-1 TCAL) would get close or appear to gain some momentum, the team would make an error.
“The youth of this team was coming through,” said first-year Baler coach Chuck Schallhorn. “There was no pressure. It was a game of friends. Many of the players have played together in club. Committing 26 errors is like giving them a full game.”
Outside hitter Melissa Moore hit the ball hard for the Balers, but most of her hits were hit long out of bounds. Several of her hits were also hit diagonally out bounds instead of being dropped down the middle.
The Balers took their first lead at 12-11 on an Ace by Alyssa Fowles, but her next serve hit the net, and the Acorns went on to take an 18-14 lead. Hollister battled right back and got within 19-18 before Juliette Bowers pounded home a spike to give Live Oak a 20-18 advantage.
After a timeout, Hollister was able to get within 24-22, but Moore, a converted middle, once again hit it long to give Live Oak the win.
Tiven Catrett and Sarah Lusenti combined for a block early on in the second game to help Live Oak go on a 4-0 run.
Live Oak picked up three points on Whitney Phares’ serves and took a 9-4 lead. Hollister eventually came back to lead 12-10 after an ace that capped a seven-point rally.
Captain Kaycee Dowdle and Bowers broke up the streak with a block to make the score 12-11. The Balers took their largest lead of the match at 15-12, but Live Oak’s power hitting started to wear down the Balers.
A kill by Heather Molyneaux and a block by Catrett helped Live Oak eventually take a 17-16 lead. Setter Justine Pingue contributed with seven consecutive serves to give Live Oak a 19-16 advantage. It was all Acorns from then on.
Live Oak forced Hollister to call a timeout after Moore dropped in a nice jump serve, which the Acorns saved and set it up for Catrett to make one of her game-leading ten kills on. Dowdle finished with six kills in the game.
The Acorns got out to a 5-0 advantage in the third game. Hollister tied the score at eight. Kristen Russ broke up the run with a kill and then did it with her serves that just barely cleared the net. Her first two serves setup one-time hits by Dowdle, and Russ’ third serve dropped in untouched for an ace.
“I thought we blocked better than they did,” Coleman said. “We made less hitting errors than they did. We worked a lot on passing this week. Even though we were ahead, I was still scared because you don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Live Oak plays in the Menlo-Atherton tournament this week before facing a strong Salinas team next Tuesday at home.
