California High School's volleyball team returned to the court Thursday night to take part in a pre-season jamboree event, hosted by Columbia Battle High School.
The Lady Pintos took on both the Columbia Battle Spartans and the Fatima High School Comets, finishing the day undefeated. Each school played each other two times. All matches were played in two sets, and the first team to 21 points would win the set.
The Lady Pintos first dispatched the Fatima Comets in two sets, 21-12 and 21-15. The Lady Pintos then went on to defeat Columbia Battle 21-18 and 21-12, but had to overcome an early 6-1 deficit in their first set against the Spartans.
Lady Pintos head coach Julie Bailey was satisfied with the victories, but she also said her team can play better than they did on Thursday.
"We were very fortunate to have beaten Battle," Bailey said. "We did not play our brand of volleyball against them in the first set. And yet, we found a way to come back and come out on top. Then, in the second set, we got fortunate because they were having trouble handling our serves."
Bailey was singing a different tune when she talked about the victory against Fatima in straight sets.
"Even though we have a long way to go, I very pleased with our approach and execution against Fatima," Bailey said. "Fatima has had a very good volleyball program for years and it felt good to beat them. We will have to play them again later this year and I hope we can play better when we play them again."
It might not have been by design or counted for the regular season, but the Lady Pintos now have pre-season matches under their belts. They will look to bring their success from Thursday and yesterday's season-opening matchup against Mexico High School with them tomorrow as they play Boonville, starting at 5 p.m.