After suffering the first defeat on the season Sept. 15 to Blair Oaks, California Lady Pintos volleyball got back to their winning ways with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-12, 25-19) win against Capital City.
California then traveled to Eugene to face off against the Lady Eagles (8-2) on Sept. 22. The Lady Pintos dominated the first set and although Eugene played better as the night wore on, California held their ground and swept Eugene 3-0 (25-10, 25-18, 25-20) to improve their record to 12-1-1.
Going into last Thursday night's contest, California had not seen any film of Eugene, but they knew it had an excellent start to the season and among the favorites to win its district in October. Lady Pintos head coach Julie Bailey was confident her team could be successful if they could control the pace of the match.
"I thought we could take them in three if we came out playing like we could play. We have those moments where we sometimes don't play as strong as we can, but we were really focused in practice yesterday and I felt little more confident after that. We came out and did really well," Bailey said. "I don't think Eugene played as strong in the first set, and then they challenged us quite a bit more in the second and third sets, but we were still able to pull it out and play at our level."
In the first set, the Lady Pintos raced out to a 5-0 lead. After Eugene took a timeout, it did little to slow down the Lady Pintos. California went on to continue their dominance by taking a 17-3 lead later in the set on its way to a 25-10 victory in the first set.
In the second set, Eugene changed strategies and played better volleyball. Unfortunately for Eugene, California continued to keep a leg up on the match and pulled out a 25-18 win to take a 2-0 lead in the match. The teams traded points for much of the third set, which was tied at 18. In danger of going to a fourth set, California decided to set up the ball for their two best front line hitters -- Lauren Friedrich and Isabella Kincaid. Friedrich and Kincaid came up with four of California last seven points of the set on kills and California scored seven of the last nine points in the set to win it 25-20.
Bailey was pleased with the victory and the way California played in getting the win.
"You sometimes get confident when you have a really successful start to your season like Eugene has done. I don't know if they've faced anyone like us yet. So that may have been a shock to them and they had to make adjustments to it," Bailey said. "Our girls stepped up, and stayed focused, and played at our level when they started to play better. We had some amazing hustle plays today and I don't think Eugene was expecting the ball to be returned. We had Isabella (Kincaid) leap over Macie (Trimble), and then Lauren (Friedrich) dive for a ball and get it over the net. Abby (Traschel) did an outstanding job on the back row. So we had a little bit of everything tonight."
California is in the toughest part of its schedule. In addition to matches against Blair Oaks and Eugene, California will soon face Hickman, Cole Camp, Versailles, Helias and Fatima. Bailey said while California is not playing at its peak level, the Lady Pintos are showing excellent signs of progress at an important time of the year.
"I think it shows what we are capable of and I don't even think that we are playing to our full potential just yet. So that's promising to be able to say that as a coach at this point in the season," Bailey said. "We still need to work on our blocking and our digs for the quick offensive teams that we are going to face. We also need to work more on our defense. Our felt like some of our digs tonight were pretty good and I think that reflected on what we practiced on yesterday."
California goes back on the road Thursday to take on Hickman in Columbia.
Head Coach Julie Bailey is pleased with her team's performance after winning the second set against Eugene. (Democrat Photo/Evan Holmes)
Senior Abby Trachsel had a team-high 16 digs against the Eugene Lady Eagles. (Democrat Photo/Evan Holmes)
Senior Lauren Friedrich wins the match for the Lady Pintos with the final two kills of the night. Friedrich had 15 kills against the Lady Eagles. (Democrat Photo/Evan Holmes)
Senior Emma Whitson sets up teammate Lauren Friedrich with an assist in California's 25-10 opening set victory over Eugene. (Democrat Photo/Evan Holmes)
The Lady Pintos meet on the court for a final team huddle before their match against Eugene.(Democrat Photo/Evan Holmes)
Senior Lauren Friedrich has six kills in California 25-10 opening set win against Eugene. Friedrich had 15 total kills on Thursday night.(Democrat Photo/Evan Holmes)
Junior Isabella Kincaid gets a kill point in the opening set against the Lady Eagles. Kincaid had 15 kills against Eugene.(Democrat Photo/Evan Holmes)
The Lady Pintos celebrate winning the second set against the Lady Eagles. (Democrat Photo/Evan Holmes)