Eduardo Miranda

The Daily Independent

It was Sophomore Night for the Cerro Coso volleyball program before facing Victor Valley College. Before the match the Coyote players and fans were able to thank Madison Meinert, Abby Wuestenhoefer, and Imani Parker. After the celebration, the Coyotes faced Victor Valley and won in four sets 21-25, 25-10, 25-19, and 25-23.

"It was good to see everything come together. All the hard work we have been trying apply and we finally executed. It was really nice," said head coach Armando Gamez on his team's performance and winning on Sophomore Night.

The Coyotes finished Inland Empire Athletic Conference play on a two-game winning streak for a 3-9 conference record and overall record of 7-15.

Gamez said about the season, "I think we definitely improved from the start of conference toward the end. I think we improved every game, and toward the end, we were able to execute much better what we were trying to do."

The Coyotes finished with 43 kills on 111 attempts, 43 assists, 11 aces, 60 digs, nine block solos, and 12 block assists. Meinert led the team in kills with 17 and Emorie Mogle had 13. Ariel Meech led the team with 40 assists and also led the team with five aces. Parker had three aces and led the team with 20 digs, while Meinert had 11 and Karla Ortiz had 10. Brooke Murphy, Ortiz, and Meinert led the team with two solo blocks each. Murphy had four block assists and Lexi Higer, Meech, and Mogle all had two block assists.

In the first set, the Coyotes had 10 kills on 19 attempts but had three errors. The set began with both teams keeping the set close and the set was tied at 16-16. An error from the Coyotes gave the visitors a lead, but a kill from Murphy and a block from Higer and Meech gave the Coyotes an 18-17 lead. The Rams tied the set and Cerro Coso took a 20-18 lead on back-to-back kills from Mogle. The Coyotes scored another point for a 21-18 lead, but failed to score again as the Rams went on a 7-0 run to take the set 21-25.

The second set, the Coyotes had 11 kills on 23 attempts and committed only two errors. Wuestenhoefer gave the Coyotes an early 4-1 lead with back-to-back kills from Meinert. Parker helped the home team jump to a 13-3 lead with an ace, four kills from Meinert, and a kill from Higer. During Meech's serve, the Coyotes took a commanding 20-7 lead with two aces and a block from Higer and Mogle. Victor Valley scored three points and the Coyotes scored the final five points including the set winner by Meinert.

In the third set, the Coyotes had 13 kills from 29 attempts but committed only two errors. Much like the first set, the two teams traded points until Parker went up to serve trailing 10-9. She gave her team a 13-11 lead with two kills from Meinert. The home team continued to hold off the Rams, and Meech extended the lead to 22-16. The Coyotes went on to score the final three points with kills from Mogle and Meinert and a block from Meinert to seal the set at 25-19.

The final set had Cerro Coso finish with nine kills on 29 attempts with seven errors. Parker helped tied the game at 3-3 with a kill from Meinert and an ace. But Victor Valley retook the lead until Emma Gonzalez was up to serve and helped tie the set at 7-7. After taking an 8-7 lead, Murphy then helped build a 11-8 lead and Meech then increased the lead to 15-10 with an ace and a block from Higer. The Coyotes went on to win the set and match with a Meinert kill.

Following the game, Gamez spoke on his freshmen having the experience of this season: "I think it's a blessing. Its going to be a lot easier for them to transition and be able to play since day one rather than building toward that. It's going to be a solid foundation for them."