BHS Volleyball: Aztecs falter vs. Cougars

BARSTOW • A flat Granite Hills High School volleyball team is one that still gives Barstow problems.
The Cougars ended a two-game losing streak with a 3-1 win on Tuesday at the Don Bilsborough Gymnasium. Barstow lost 25-27, 17-25, 25-23, 15-25.

The Cougars have almost always given Barstow problems since Granite Hills opened 1999. Since sweeping the season series in 2006, the Aztecs hadn’t so much as won a game against Granite Hills entering last night’s game.
Not only did the Aztecs win a game Tuesday night they had a chance to take the whole match.

Barstow not only had good chances to win games, they had momentum and leads. The Aztecs started each game with a lead. They jumped out to a 5-2 lead in game one, games two and three with a 3-0 lead and game four with a 3-1 lead. Each time the Cougars managed to hang around.

“Yea, we should have (won),” Barstow coach Kathy O’Neil said. “We did much better. The last time we faced Granite, they just walked over us.”

Granite Hills was missing Coreen Pereda, who Granite Hills coach Fern Crenshaw called one of the team’s best passers. Pereda’s father was undergoing triple-by-pass surgery. In Pereda’s absence, Crenshaw called her team’s play flat and said they struggled to pass. However, the Cougars were able to rally almost each time the Aztecs took a lead.

“This seems to be their pattern,” Crenshaw said. “This is how they play. They like to play catch-up. It drives me crazy.”

Barstow and Granite Hills hung with each other midway through each game. By about the 15-point mark the Cougars started making runs. Barstow junior Courtney Verrill said the Aztecs’ intensity would start to waver during those parts of the match.

“It’s way frustrating,” Verrill said. “We get all excited and then everyone’s attitude just kind of drops. It’s not one individual person. It’s the whole team.”

The Aztecs lone win came in game three when they again lead early and trailed in the middle of the match. After Barstow junior Nicole Mathews hit an ace to give Barstow a 16-11 lead, the Cougars took a timeout and then went on a run. Granite Hills had an 18-17 lead just a few points later and continued to hold their lead as the game neared its conclusion. The Cougars needed just two points to end the game with a 23-21 lead but Barstow stopped them there. The Aztecs scored four straight points for the win.

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