Eduardo Miranda
The Daily Independent
The Cerro Coso volleyball team continued Inland Empire Athletic Conference action hosting the defending conference champions, Mt. San Jacinto. The Eagles entered the game with a perfect conference record and the Coyotes looking to snap a three-game conference losing streak. It took the Coyotes longer than they wanted to get used to being on the court with the Eagles before falling in three sets 25-8, 25-7, and 25-18.
"I think it took us awhile to get going," said Cerro Coso head coach Armando Gamez. "Seemed like the third set we really got going. Hopefully, we can get that sooner."
Cerro Coso finished with 20 kills led by Imani Parker with seven, Lexi Higer with five, and Karla Ortiz with four. The Coyotes had 21 assists with 11 from Abby Wuestenhoefer and 10 from Ariel Meech. Parker had the Coyotes' only ace. They had 34 digs led by Madison Meinert and Meech with seven each. Wuestenhoefer and Ortiz each had a solo block.
The Coyotes found themselves trailing 11-1 early in the first after taking a second timeout. The only Coyote point had come off a missed serve by the Eagles. The struggle continued as the visitors extended the lead to 16-3 after a kill from Meinert. Ortiz had a kill to cut the deficit to 20-5 and Parker had two kills, but it wasn't enough as the Coyotes fell 25-8. They finished with five kills on 32 attempts and committed four errors.
The second set had the Coyotes erase a 3-0 deficit by beating the Eagles' defense and an ace from Parker. Trailing 3-2, the visitors went on a run and extended the lead to 7-3 until a kill from Ortiz. Another kill from Ortiz cut the deficit in half at 8-4. But Mt. San Jacinto found holes in the Coyotes' defense and built a 20-5 lead, forcing Gamez to call a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Coyotes scored on a kill from Parker. But it wasn't enough and the home team lost the set 25-7. Cerro Coso finished with three kills on 22 attempts and committed seven errors.
The third set had the Eagles score the first point but the Coyotes tied it at 1-1, and then on a kill from Parker took their first lead of the match at 2-1. Back-to-back kills from Higer gave the Coyotes a 4-2 lead. From there both teams traded points off rallies that showed the Coyotes defense could keep up with the Eagles offense, and the Coyotes offense could score points. After a Meinert kill, the Coyotes trailed 10-8 and continued to keep the match close. Back-to-back kills from Parker tied the set at 12-12, but the Coyotes gave up three difficult points to fall behind 15-12 forcing a timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, Parker scored to cut the deficit to 15-13. The Coyotes continued to keep the set close with a block from Wuestenhoefer, but trailed 19-14 forcing another Coyotes timeout. Cerro Coso earned the point out of the timeout, and both teams again traded points. The Coyotes cut the deficit to 20-16, which was the closest they got at the end. Mt. San Jacinto scored the next four points for a 24-16 lead, and after two kills from Ortiz and Meinert the deficit was 24-18. The Eagles scored the final point to win the set and match 25-18. The Coyotes finished with 12 kills on 41 attempts and committed three errors.
After executing in the third set, Gamez said, "it's good that they were executing the strategy that we planned beforehand and we saw it executed in the third set. Hopefully we will be able to execute a bit sooner, but I think we are progressing. Before, not executing at all, and now we are executing. Hopefully, we can continue to put a full game together."
The Coyotes continue Inland Empire Conference play with a four-game road trip beginning at Copper Mountain on Friday with the first set beginning at 5 p.m. They then visit Victor Valley, Chaffey, and Desert before returning home on Monday, Oct. 28, hosting West Coast Baptist in a non-conference match.
