Published on September 22, 2009
Zach Poisal
Staff writer
The Fullerton Hornets dominated nearly every aspect of the match, steamrolling over Ventura College in three straight sets (19-25, 21-25, 18-25).
Every player on the roster except big hitter Chelsea O’Mara, who was sidelined due to back spasms, played in the loss. Kayla Phipps smashed in seven kills to lead the team, while Justine O’Connor, Talyor Edsell, and Shelbee Younce all had 11 digs a piece.
The first 11 points of the match featured 10 ties and 8 lead changes. Unfortunately for the Pirates, they were unable to hang on and the Hornets took a six point lead after a large scoring spurt. The inability to capitalize on Fullerton mistakes and overcome poor communication contributed to Ventura dropping the first set 25-19.
The second match featured many long rallies early on. The back and forth battle didn’t last long though, when Fullerton built its lead to six points once again. Ventura was able to cut the lead to one, only to see the Hornets pull out the victory, taking the set 25-21.
Anne Westbrook noticed that the team has a bad habit of letting these large runs occur.
“We started off pumped-up in warm-ups and [at the] beginning of the game,” she stated.
“We lost a couple points and just got down on ourselves, and couldn’t bring it back together.”
Even though tons of fresh bodies were substituting nearly every point throughout the third set, it was not a recipe for Pirates success. Once again, Ventura built up a large deficit, trailing 20-12. Fullerton dominated the entire set, taking the third and final set 25-18.
Coach Arnold-Rodriguez sees room for improvement and uses this match as a learning experience.
“They know what they need to do, now they need to start doing it,” Arnold said.
“Continually tell them the same thing to do over and over and over again, now they need to start putting it into action.”