By Eduardo Miranda, The Daily Independent
The Cerro Coso volleyball program played its second home game of the season hosting Antelope Valley College. This was the first game of a home-and-home series between the Coyotes and Marauders, with the second game at Antelope Valley College on Friday.
In front of a loud home crowd, the Coyotes held off late runs by the Marauders 25-23, 25-20, and 25-18. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Coyotes and was the first for first-year head coach Armando Gamez.
"I'm happy that we got our first win," Gamez said. "I think the girls were really looking toward it. Hopefully, we can continue this momentum to Friday.
He added that it felt really good to get his first win but he hadn't thought about it much as he wanted to get the win more for the girls than him. He also sees the win as a momentum builder for not only the second game on Friday but hopefully the rest of the season.
"It's good for us to get that first win and get a one in our win column to be able to build momentum to keep going," Gamez said.
The Coyotes' attack had 43 kills in total, which breaks down to 17 kills in the first set, 15 in the second, and 11 in third. The Coyotes finished with 43 assists, but finished with 10 attacking errors, which breaks to two in the first and four in the second and third sets. Emorie Mogle led the team with 17 kills, Madison Meinert had eight, Karla Ortiz and Lexi Higer both had seven kills each. Abby Wuestenhoefer led the team with 37 assists, Ariel Meech had five, and Imani Parker had one.
On the defensive end, the Coyotes had 52 digs and two block assists. Imani Parker led the team with 15 digs, Mogle had 10, Wuestenhoefer and Ortiz both had seven digs each. Brooke Murphy and Meinert had the only block assist.
Cerro Coso's serving had seven aces led by Parker with a team high three. Wuestenhoefer, Meinert, Ortiz, and Murphy all had an ace.
The first set was close between the Coyotes and Marauders. After the home team grabbed a five-point lead, 15-10, the visitors went on a run to cut the lead to 20-17. During Antelope Valley's 7-5 run, Ortiz had two kills and Gamez called a timeout. The Coyotes took a 23-18 lead on a kill by Mogle and looked set to earn the win, but the Marauders serve cut the lead to one, 23-22 forcing another Coyotes timeout. After the timeout, Antelope Valley hit a serving error and Cerro Coso followed it with a miscommunication on the court that gave the visitors an easy point. The Coyotes led 24-23 until Ortiz got the set-winning kill.
The second set saw both teams trade points with the Coyotes leading 20-18 after a Coyotes timeout. Following the timeout, the visitors scored to cut the lead to one, and then had a bad serve to restore the Coyotes two-point lead, 21-19. The Marauders scored to cut the lead to one, 21-20 but the home team found its rhythm and with kills from Murphy and Mogle, and an ace from Ortiz took the second set 25-20.
With all the momentum in their favor, the Coyotes went into the final set looking to earn the sweep and first win of the season. The home team jumped out to an early 7-3 lead with back-to-back-to-back kills from Meinert that forced an Antelope Valley timeout. Cerro Coso and the visitors traded points for a Coyotes 8-4 lead, which was the closest the Marauders got in the third set. The Coyotes defense made it difficult for the Marauders to terminate the ball and cut into the lead. The Coyotes offense found openings in the Marauders defense to terminate the ball and secured a 25-18 set and match win.
Gamez said on his team playing better in their second home game, "I think it helped that we went over a few things that might have helped them. Maybe they were not prepared for the first home game but now with some practice we were able to execute really well."