Even during a Eugene run of 11-of-15 points late in the first set, Bailey was sticking to what is her first priority as a coach at California high school. Honesty.
While honesty set California back just a bit, it didn't hurt the Lady Pintos in the long run, defeating Eugene in straight sets (25-17, 25-20) on Thursday.
California held a 20-5 lead midway through the first set when the Lady Eagles went on that run, cutting the Lady Pintos' lead to 23-16. After California's Cameron Meyer had a kill to give her team a set-point. On the next volley, a Eugene player appeared to hit the ball out of bounds, giving California the set win.
While the referee gave the Lady Pintos the point, Eugene's coach pleaded with him saying it touched a California blocker. Bailey asked her team if the ball hit their hand, which it did, then Bailey sent the ball down to the Lady Eagles giving them the point and another opportunity to chip away at the lead.
"We've always taught the girls to be honest," Bailey said. "We're about building character. We're character, academics and then athletics. I don't know if the other teams will, but we're going to do the right thing."
The Lady Pintos ultimately won the first set on the very next point, 25-17.
"It's what we're capable of," Bailey said. "We were on, we weren't making mistakes and we were causing them to make the errors instead of us."
To start the second, Eugene seemed to pick up right where they left off from the first set. After California jumped up 2-0, Eugene scored the next four points to take a 4-2 advantage.
"If we get relaxed as a team in the second set after we have a powerful win, we don't play at the level that we can," Bailey said. "We have overcome it and figured it out."
Basically, the beginning of the set was made up by runs for both teams. After Eugene's 4-0 run to get to 4-2, California ripped off four-in-a-row to take a 6-4 lead. Then, the Lady Eagles had a 5-0 run to regain the lead 9-6. The Lady Pintos went on their own 5-0 run to make it a 11-9 ball game.
"The second game, we were making way too many mistakes," Bailey said "We weren't moving to the ball and making the passes that we can."
Eugene had two more 3-0 runs in the set, eventually taking the 20-18 lead. After Bailey called a timeout, California finished off the set with a 7-0 run to to defeat the Lady Eagles 25-20.
"They had to make a decision right there if they wanted to win the game and if they wanted to turn it around and make a play," Bailey said.
Senior Ashtyn Goans and Meyer led the team with six kills a piece, and the team had 24 in total. California as a team had 47 digs, and Meyer and Allison led with 12 and 11, respectively. Sophomore Chloe Schenewerk had six serving aces.
The JVA team also won 2-0 (25-9, 25-14) against the Lady Eagles. There was not a JVB game.