The California Lady Pintos volleyball team took a field trip on Thursday to Columbia for a matchup against the Hickman High School Kewpies. It was the fifth time the Lady Pintos and Kewpies had ever met in a match, with Hickman winning all four of the previous matches. After losing the first set, California buckled down on defense and used it to power their offense -- winning the next three sets to defeat the Kewpies 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 26-24, 25-17).
In the first set, California looked to use the same offensive strategy they used against Blair Oaks, aiming for the corners of the court, hustling after every loose ball and avoiding dropping the ball into the middle of the court.
California got off to a quick start and an early timeout was called by Hickman. From there, both teams fought tooth and nail, with California taking a 19-14 lead into the closing points of the set. However, Hickman had a long history of late set comebacks against California and remained well in the game. Led by Hickman junior Kenadi Canty, junior Kyndra Collier, and sophomore Sy'Rae Stemmons, the Kewpies pulled off another comeback, finishing the set on a 11-4 run to steal and lead the match 1-0.
Lady Pintos volleyball Head Coach Julie Bailey said Hickman's comeback was sparked by unorthodox mistakes from her team and the Kewpies taking advantage of those mistakes.
"In the first set, we had the lead most of the way and kind of gave it away. We had too many errors with letting way too many balls hit the ground, which is not like us. So I was glad to see the girls did end of fixing that throughout the night," Bailey said. "We ended having a lot less of those in the next three sets. That turned out to be one of the biggest differences for us in the match."
The second set got off to a rocky start as both teams went back and forth with serving errors, with California taking an early 8-6 lead in the process. From that point on, California's offense began to click and the surge was spearheaded by senior Emma Whiston, who had a kill, a block, an ace, and two assists on California's next points. The Lady Pintos held on to the lead throughout the rest of the second set, to tie the match 1-1 with a 25-21 set two victory.
The Lady Pintos got a unique point in the beginning of the third set when junior Penelope Cotten served the ball, which hit a Hickman defender and went out of bounds for a point. That helped the Lady Pintos jump out to another quick lead to begin the set. This time, California jumped out to a 16-8 lead. Once again, however, Hickman pulled off another comeback and were needing only one more point to take a 2-1 lead in the match. After Bailey took a timeout with California trailing 24-22 in the set, the Lady Pintos got a block and kill from senior Lauren Friedrich to send the set to extra points. California then stole the set with two kills from juniors Ella Bailey and Isabella Kincaid to win the third set 26-24 and take a 2-1 series lead.
The fourth set saw the Lady Pintos play their best volleyball of the night. Once again, California jumped out to a fast start and took an early 12-5 lead. Unlike the last three sets, the Lady Pintos managed to prevent another substansial comeback and remained in control behind four kills from Friedrich and Kincaid. Kincaid finished the set and the match with back-to-back kills and California won the fourth set 25-17 and the match 3-1.
Coach Bailey said California's defensive adjustments as the night wore on and some breaks given by Hickman helped them get the well-deserved victory over the Kewpies.
"I think our defense picked it up better in the third and four sets. We were making some really good defensive plays, and we were attacking wide and trying to aim for the corners. We were also giving Lauren (Friedrich) the ball in the six spot which was key for us," Bailey said. "I felt like when they came out in the fourth set, they appeared to be a little bit defeated. They didn't seem like the same team. They were making some mistakes in that fourth set that they had not be making. They hit several balls in the next, they had some serving errors, and they were having problems giving their hitters the ball. We did play better throughout the night, but we did get some help."
Coach Bailey said the quick starts the Lady Pintos had in each set proved to be an important component to California's victory Thursday night. Bailey claims California used a strategic setup called "The Six" to avoid Canty from blocking the ball on returns. The strategy payed off throughout the match and Canty's play became more and more limited as the night wore on.
"It's harder for a team to dig out and get a lead after trailing early. We were really working the outsides and we were running Sixes out of our middle from Lauren (Friedrich) and Macie (Trimble) to avoid their big blocker. I got the girls to start going in line a little bit more and not play cross-court as much. It took their blockers somewhat out of the game," Bailey said. "From the back side, we got several good cross-court hits from our back side set and it helped us get some points. We had some times where we were dumping the ball in the middle and that's not good for us, because it allows them to give it right back to their middle girls. So I told the girls that we've got to hit the corners and spread them out, so they can't get the ball to their front line, and it worked."
The Lady Pintos then went on to play in the Warrensburg Tournament and won first place by winning five matches against Lafayette County, Sacred Heart, Pleasant Hill, Santa Fe, and Warrensburg. The Lady Pintos are now 19-1-1 on the season and will play Helias Catholic at home Thursday.
Junior outside hitter Isabella Kincaid scored the last two points in the fourth set to seal the win for California over Hickman. Kincaid had 13 kills and three blocks against the Kewpies. (Democrat Photo/Evan Holmes)
The Lady Pintos hold a final team huddle as the get set to take on the Kewpies. (Democrat Photo/Evan Holmes)
California came back after losing the first set 23-25 to win the next three sets to win the match against Hickman. California won the last three sets 25-21, 26-24, and 25-17 respectively. (Democrat Photo/Evan Holmes)
Senior Lauren Friedrich (left) and junior Ella Bailey (right) get a tandem block point for the Lady Pintos.(Democrat Photo/Evan Holmes)
Senior Lauren Friedrich makes a block for the Lady Pintos in the second set against Hickman. Friedrich had 13 kills and five blocks on Thursday night. (Democrat Photo/Evan Holmes)
Senior libero Emma Braby serves the ball with California up 8-4 in the opening set against Hickman. (Democrat Photo/Evan Holmes)
Senior Emma Whitson had eight kills and four blocks in California's 3-1 win over Hickman on Thursday night. Whitson had seven kills and five blocks against the Kewpies. (Democrat Photo/Evan Holmes)