Lady Pintos overcome concussion, drop Hallsville

When Adrienne Strickfaden smashed her head into that of teammate Cassie Dearixon on Oct. 11 during a match at the Versailles Tournament, a good chunk of the Lady Pinto volleyball team's hitting power was - figuratively, at least - knocked out.

But with Strickfaden nursing a concussion Tuesday night and the recent departure from the team of senior spiking specialist Paige Halsey, sophomore outside hitter Cameron Meyer stepped up, recording a team-high 11 kills en route to a 25-9, 25-10 sweep of the visiting Hallsville Indians.

While Strickfaden sat, her fellow head-banger Dearixon played in the contest in which the Lady Pintos never trailed.

"I guess Cassie's head is harder," joked Lady Pintos Head Coach Julie Bailey.

California jumped out to a quick lead, scoring the first two points in the first set, but then struggled until a timeout with a narrow 10-8 lead.

"I told them that we'd had three hitting errors and three service errors so far. We had basically given them six of their eight points," Bailey said after the game. "After that, we went out and eliminated those errors, started working together and communicating well."

Behind the strong outside hitting of Meyers, the Lady Pintos scored 15 of the next 16 points - including the last seven on well-placed serves by Madilyn Safley - to close out the set.

"She's got a great spot serve and was really placing it well," Bailey said of Safley, who finished the game with a team-high six aces, seven digs and 10 assists.

The final set was more of the same, with strong hitting, solid defense and five more service points from Safley. After opening up a 12-2 advantage, the Pintos cruised to the 25-10 victory.

The match was held amid a sea of pink, as the Lady Pintos honored those affected by cancer with its annual Pink Out game.

It was also Senior Night, with California honoring Morgan Henley and Kamryn Koetting at the final home game of their careers.

With the victory, the Lady Pintos (14-7-3) rolled into the Class 3, District 12 tournament Oct. 20-21 at Helias High School as the No. 2 seed. The Pintos were scheduled to face the winner of the Blair Oaks/Osage contest in the semifinals. The victor was to advance to the finals, where undefeated and state No. 1 Helias loomed in the top half of the bracket. The Crusaders had lost just three sets all season heading into the tournament.

Bailey was hopeful Strickfaden would return from her concussion to play.

"She's pretty determined to be back, but we'll have to wait and see when she goes back to the doctor Monday," Bailey said after last Tuesday's victory.

Visit californiademocrat.com for coverage of the tournament.