SANGER – Utilizing a combination of height and physical play, San Joaquin Memorial overwhelmed Sanger in a 3-0 road victory at the Dean Nicholson Gym. The Panthers improve to 18-8 overall while the Apaches drop to a respectable 16-10.
The Panthers’ victory (25-18, 25-22, 25-21) on Oct. 9 also extends their winning streak to seven games. The last time the Panthers lost a game was back on Sept. 14 against Clovis High in the John Riding Memorial 10th Annual Hard Driven Volleyball Challenge.
The Apaches felt pretty confident when they jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead in the first set; however, some powerful blocking from pin to pin by the Panthers forced the Apaches into inconsistent play and mistakes. An unsuccessful dig attempt by the Apaches tied the score at 10-10. Momentum changed for the Panthers when Sofie Meissner’s shot made the score 18-16.
“I just felt like we were really inconsistent,” said Sanger head coach Sierra LeBeau. “They got in our heads a lot. We weren’t very confident”.
The Apaches opened the second set with an early lead, but that evaporated quickly when Sanger’s Olivia LeBeau’s failed dig attempt gave Memorial a 4-2 lead. More Apache mistakes led to a even greater 8-2 deficit. Sanger’s shots didn’t come easy as Memorial continued to dominate with their height.
“They picked on our weaknesses, which is our height and blocking,” said LeBeau. “And it showed tonight.”
The score became 23-17 when LeBeau hit the floor with another bad dig attempt. A couple of Memorial mistakes, highlighted by a shot out of bounds by Madeline Silverio, cut the lead to 23-19. Unfortunately, that’s as close as the Apaches got.
Despite some miscues and dig attempts that didn’t go her way, LeBeau was the catalyst for the Apaches. Her intensity kept the team in the game and she played an active part in every play.
“Our libero, Olivia, her intensity tonight was there the whole match,” said LeBeau. “She hit the floor for everything she did.”
The Apaches jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in the third set, highlighted by a Sofia Aguilar point off a serve. A Marlena Johns hit into the net cut the Sanger lead to 6-3 and an impressive Panthers block tied the set at 7-7. After a bad dig attempt by Emmett made the score 10-8 Sanger, momentum shifted once again to the Panthers.
“I think we are very scrappy on defense, so we keep those rallies going for a long time,” said LeBeau. “I could tell they were winded after some of those plays.”
Both teams kept the score close until the last few minutes of the game. An impressive spike by Sanger’s Ashley Robles tied the score at 14-14. After trailing the Apaches 19-17, Memorial then finished with a final run that saw them jump out in front 22-19. The Apaches last attempt at a rally ended at 23-20.
The Apaches need to put this difficult loss behind them and use it as motivation for the remainder of the season.
“It’s up to them to overcome setbacks and push through,” said LeBeau. “And I don’t think we did that very well.”
The Apaches will have a chance to avenge their loss to the Panthers when they play them again on Oct. 22.
