SVHS Volleyball: Trojans fall in 3

YERMO • Momentum is a funny thing in volleyball.

Matches that looked close can suddenly change in the matter of a game.

However, chances are the Silver Valley High School volleyball team didn’t find it so funny after a 3-0 loss to Lucerne Valley on Tuesday at the Charlie Hawkins Gymnasium. The Mustangs won 20-25, 15-25, 8-25.
After going back and forth with the Mustangs for most of the first game, The Trojans’ momentum took a sudden nose dive toward the end of the game and they never recovered.

The Trojans (11-11-3; 2-5 Desert Mountain League) controlled the opening game when it was 5-3. Got on a roll when it was 11-5. Were surging toward a win at 17-15. Still clung to a lead 19-18.

But somewhere in there the Trojans lost complete control. Lucerne Valley scored nine of the final 12 points in the match.

“The first game, the girls were all fired up,” Silver Valley coach Diana Sandridge said. “They communicated well. They played their game. Lucerne Valley adjusted to our game and we couldn’t adjust to their game.”

Sandridge said the Mustangs (12-4; 8-0 DML) began making positioning adjustments toward the end of the first game. Balls that fell in open space before were now covered by Lucerne Valley.

The game transitioned from a competitive match between two teams to an outright dominating performance by the Mustangs. Silver Valley struggled to generate offense or control the ball, generating just 23 points in the final two games.

“The momentum wasn’t going our way and there are other days that it goes our way,” Sandridge said.

Lucerne Valley jumped out to a 4-0 lead to start the second game and kept adding to it. During the last third of the match the Mustangs maintained a comfortable 10-point lead.

The third game was no different. The Trojans made it 3-2 after an Alannah Castro kill but didn’t get any closer. The Mustangs scored the final seven points of the match to win 23-8.

Alejandra Rodriguez led the Trojans with nine kills and six digs. Castro finished with six kills and 11 digs, Ashley Smith had eight assists, four digs and an ace, Brenna Foster had three aces, four kills, six digs and four assists and Natalie Elias added six digs.

The Trojans will get a chance to avenge the loss on Monday when they travel to Lucerne Valley. In between, they host Boron at 5 p.m. on Thursday.

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4124 or mpeters@desertdispatch.com