Eduardo Miranda
The Daily Independent
The Cerro Coso volleyball team hosted West Coast Baptist of Lancaster in a non-conference match with four Inland Empire Athletic Conference matches left in the season. The Coyotes swept the Eagles 25-15, 25-23, and 25-15.
"It was good to get a win under our belt. It's good momentum going into Wednesday," said head coach Armando Gamez on the non-conference win and using it to prepare for Wednesday. "Just practice and get some mental reps in and just be ready for Wednesday."
The Coyotes' offense finished with 38 kills led by 16 from Madison Meinert and eight from Karla Ortiz and Lexi Higer. Ariel Meech led the team with 38 assists and had four aces, with Meinert, Ortiz, Imani Parker, and Abby Wuestenhoefer all getting one each.
On the defensive end, the Coyotes finished with 55 digs led by Parker with 22, Wuestenhoefer with 15, and Ortiz with seven. They had four blocks with Higer leading the team with three and Brooke Murphy with one.
In the first set the Coyotes had 13 kills from 45 attempts with four errors. The home team jumped out to an early 12-6 lead. The Coyotes expanded the lead to 14-10 on a kill from Wuestenhoefer. A kill from Higer put the score at 15-10, and the Coyotes continued to score on kills from Higer and Meinert, and a few mistakes from the Eagles for a 21-14 lead. The visitors scored to cut the lead to 21-15, and the Coyotes responded by scoring the next four points for a 25-15 set win.
The second set had the Coyotes score 11 kills from 40 attempts but committed six errors. The start of the second was much closer with five ties and three lead changes with the visitors leading 9-8. West Coast Baptist scored the next four points forcing a timeout from Cerro Coso. Out of the timeout the Coyotes got a point to end the run and began to chip away at the deficit.
With multiple kills from Meinert the Coyotes tied the set at 20-20. The visitors scored to retake the lead, and Cerro Coso responded by getting the next point to tie it at 21-21. An ace from Meinert gave the Coyotes the lead and they scored the next two points with a kill from Higer for a 24-22 lead. West Coast Baptist scored, but Higer got the kill to win the set at 25-23.
In the third set, the Coyotes had 14 kills from 37 attempts with five errors. The third set began like the second set with both teams trading leads. A kill from Meinert tied the set at 5-5, but the Eagles scored the next two for a 7-5 lead. Again, the Coyotes fought back and tied the set at 8-8 but again watched their opponent take the next two points for a 10-8 lead. The Coyotes tied the set at 10-10 and then fell behind 11-10 on an error.
It seemed like the error woke up the Coyotes as Ortiz scored two kills and Meinert scored on a kill for a 13-11 lead. The visitors scored and the home team responded with a kill from Meinert and then got an ace from Parker and a kill from Higer for a 16-12 lead and a West Coast Baptist timeout. That brought up Parker to serve, and she scored seven points with kills from Ortiz, Meinert, and an ace for a 23-13 lead after the serve was broken. The Coyotes went on to score the final two points for a 25-15 set and match win.
The Coyotes return to Inland Empire Athletic Conference competition Wednesday hosting San Bernardino Valley at 5 p.m. Gamez said on what he wanted to see from his team in that match, "same mentality and try to use more strategy like being aware of where we want to hit the ball instead just playing it."
Cerro Coso finishes the Inland Empire Athletic Conference with three home games and one road game. The Coyotes host San Bernardino Valley on Wednesday, travel to Mt. San Jacinto on Friday, host Copper Mountain on Wednesday, and host Victor Valley on Friday, Nov. 8.