Eduardo Miranda

The Daily Independent

Cerro Coso volleyball held a doubleheader against Inland Empire Athletic Conference opponent Desert. The Coyotes lost the first game 3-1, 10-25, 22-25, 25-23, 16-25; and were swept in the second game 7-25, 15-25, 8-25. The Coyotes fell to 0-5 overall and 0-3 in conference play. They continue Inland Empire play hosting Victor Valley on Wednesday and then travel to Copper Mountain on Friday. Both games begin at 5 p.m.

"I think definitely in the first set we showed a little bit more of what we are capable of by taking it to four. I just think minimizing the mistakes on our side of the court, set two we only lost by three points, set three we won, and set four we were a little bit of a different team," said Head Coach Nicole Brown on her team's performance. "The word of the season for us is consistency and thriving to get to a place where trust is evident across the board and we commit to the gameplan."

The Coyotes volleyball program is still young after returning to the court since 2021 with eight players who are freshmen. They are playing collegiate volleyball for the first time and Brown spoke on how playing against Desert and other opponents with sophomores and freshmen players is beneficial in building the Coyotes team and program.

"I think it definitely is an eye opener for a lot of them. Just having the opportunity to step onto the court and again we are a small team. The first thing is players have to come with that level of confidence and know that this is what they want to do," Brown said about her young squad. "I'm in a unique situation of coaching them up and helping them live up to the expectation, which is hard when you are competing against a team has done it before, done it well, and done it consistently. Congratulations to College of the Desert, but I think that as we continue to really hone in on what it means to be on this level and really appreciate what it means to be at this level, then the play will continue to increase."

The Cerro Coso coach continued that Desert having the seven subs does make a huge difference when playing in a doubleheader, but she knows her team go play to the distance because they practice that every time, they take the court. Brown did see that her team responded well to a doubleheader noting when Desert was weak, they were stronger, and as her players get older with experience, they will be able to tell when they are on momentous runs and when they need to dig in deep. But she has seen them learn a lot of the collegiate game so far from what they have been exposed to in the season and that will help the program grow in size and number. But more importantly it will help these players achieve their goal of being a top competitor in the Inland Empire.

In the first game, Cerro Coso turned around a disappointing first set and had a much better performance in the second set. They kept the set close having 10 ties with the Roadrunners and had multiple occasions where they went down three or more points but found a way to come back to tie the set. The last tie in the set was 17-17, and back-to-back errors from the Coyotes gave the Roadrunners the lead. Cerro Coso tried to make a final run at the end but fell short as many of their serves hit the net and they hit the ball into the net on others. But an ace from Michelle Vicuna cut the deficit to two, 23-21. But the Coyotes were unable to tie the set and lost to the Roadrunners.

The third set began with Cerro Coso jumping out to an early 4-2 lead with back-to-back kills from Maddie Meinert. The Coyotes held the lead until Desert tied the set at 11-11 and forced the game to go back-and-forth again. After Abby Wuestenhoefer scored on a kill to tie the set at 20-20, which forced Desert to call a timeout, the home team scored the next two points. But the Roadrunners tied the set at 22-22, and Cerro Coso retook the lead on a Meinert kill, and went ahead by two on a Kendra Price kill. Leading 24-22, Desert scored on the ensuing play and the Coyotes closed the set with a win on a block from Price.

The fourth set and the second game of a back-to-back saw Cerro Coso continue to fight but fall short. The Coyotes had moments where they struggled against the serving of the Roadrunners and allowed them to build a 10 point or larger lead. They would struggle to chip away at a huge lead and errors would make it even tougher for the home team. Desert changed its rotation and lineup in the second game and rest key players. The Coyotes were unable to do so but did not let that stop them from playing the way Brown wanted them. But the Coyotes dropped the fourth set in the first game and were swept in the second game.