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Calipatria High's Lorena Ortiz sets up a ball for a teammate in a match against Coachella Valley on Tuesday in Calipatria. (FERNANDO ACOSTA JR. PHOTO / September 11, 2012) |
CALIPATRIA — The Calipatria High volleyball team fell 3-1 to visiting Coachella Valley High here Tuesday in a nonleague match.
“It was a good learning experience for us,” Coachella Valley Arabs coach Carlos Contreras said. “We are trying to pick up our tempo. The first game got away from us, but we started executing in the second game.”
Indeed the first set went exceedingly well for the Calipatria Hornets, who used a flurry of aces and kills from Brianna Spence and Jackie Escobar to win decidedly, 25-17.
After that, the rest of the match went the way of the Arabs.
Three aces from opening server Amanda Ortiz and a number of Hornet errors helped propel Coachella Valley to an early 13-2 lead in the second game, one they wouldn’t relinquish, as they won 25-12.
The third game went almost the exact same way, with the Arabs again jumping to a 13-2 lead and ending on a 25-12 victory.
The fourth and deciding game was a tougher contest that saw an early serving duel between Spence and Ortiz.
Kayla Cicena contributed a couple of kills for the Arabs while Escobar and Ariana Gomez did their best to assist Spence in leading Calipatria.
Despite an 8-1 rally during the middle of the game, the Hornets fell yet again victim to their own mistakes, falling 25-19 to give Coachella Valley the win.
“We didn’t handle the ball too well,” Calipatria coach Hector Banaga said. “We have a lot of work to do.
“At times we look OK, but we can’t seem to finish,” he said.
Spence finished with four kills and four aces, while Escobar contributed four kills and three aces. Stephanie Uribe chimed in with three kills and two aces for the Hornets.
Calipatria (0-3) will face Gila Ridge High at 6 p.m. Thursday in Yuma.
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