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Lancer volleyball continued to fight through a tough preseason winning only one out of their three matches this week at the Hutto-Patterson Gym dropping their record to a mediocre 3-6.

Their first match of the week was against the Ventura College Pirates. The Lancers lost 3-2 with scores of 16-25, 25-18, 17-25, 25-23, 10-15. Middle blocker Abby Martin’s 14 kills were a major help in the team’s fight for the crown, but ultimately was not enough in the end.

“We’re going to prepare our mentality and energy because we kind of lacked energy the last couple of sets,” said outside hitter Leslie Rivera. “I know everybody is learning from this experience and going to come back even harder for our next game.”

After the Lancers fell back 23-21 in the fourth set, the Pirates were ready to pack their bags and go. Martin’s two kills, along with her and middle blocker Jada O’Mally’s combined block, and a service error from the Pirates gave the Lancers their second win of the night and another chance to take it all in the fifth set.

The team struggled but was unable to get the lead in the last set of the night. The Lancers started off behind 4-0 but soon started to catch up. Thanks to Rivera’s kills they were able to reach 9-7, which was unfortunately the closest they got to taking this set. The Pirates then had four kills in a row and ended up with a 5-point lead that decided the match.

Libero Pamela Galvan’s 15 digs and 7 assists as well as Rivera’s 13 digs and 9 kills contributed to the Pirates struggle for victory.

The Lancers then hosted their second PCC Quad of the season against the Citrus College Owls and the Antelope Valley College Marauders on Friday.

“[On Friday] everyone was 100% all in. Everyone was prepared to go,” said O’Mally. “We followed our strategy more on Friday rather than Wednesday.”

After an injury that left one player out for the rest of the day, the team won their first match of the week against Citrus College 3-2 with scores of 21-25, 25-19, 25-18, 23-25, 15-7.

Martin’s 16 kills and libero Emily Ramirez’s 17 digs allowed for an effortless win. The Owls seemed to avoid the ball whenever a Lancer went in for a kill which made it easy for the team to rack up points quickly.

In the last set of the game, O’Mally ended up lying on the floor in tears. After she jumped up to block the ball O’Mally landed directly on an Owl’s foot, which was on the wrong side of the net. A key player in the first four sets with 11 kills, O’Mally was taken out of the game for a sprained ankle and sat out the second game against Antelope Valley College.

“I went up to block the setter and she came down and her foot was on our side of the net and when I came down my foot landed on top of hers,” said O’Mally. “My estimated time back is two weeks.”

“I expect her to recover quickly,” said coach Mike Terrill. “I don’t think it’s a terrible [injury] but we want her to be healthy before she comes back. Coming back [too] soon would be bad.”

Following a point for point match against the Antelope Valley College Marauders, the volleyball team ended the week with a loss 2-3 and a score of 26-28, 22-25, 26-24, 25-16, 18-20.

A constant back and forth in the first set that left the teams tied 25-25 ended as the Marauders gained three last minute points, taking the opening set. Ramirez’ 16 digs, including two in one play, and outside hitter Janell Currier’s 14 drove the team to a near victory but unfortunately they were not quite enough to beat Antelope Valley’s outside hitter Abbie Addams’ 19 kills.

After playing in every set of the PCC Quad, Rivera ended up with 35 kills, 94 total attacks, and 28 digs. She was one of the main reasons her team won the first match of the day and narrowly lost the second.

“We’re trying to find a lineup and a combination of players that gives us the best chance to win matches,” said Terrill. “Leslie’s a big part of that but so is every other player that plays and who’s on the bench too.”

The Lancers play their next game away from home against the Grossmont College Griffins on Wednesday at 4.

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