Scoring consecutive victories over volleyball foes La Cañada and South Pasadena is impressive enough, but doing so in 5-set thrillers is downright sensational.
Such has been the case for the Lady Titans, who fought off several match points last Thursday to defeat the Spartans before Tuesday’s thrilling win over the Tigers.
“The girls have been doing a much better job of not letting their morale waver during the longer matches,” said head Coach Joseph Rios, master of understatement. “Keeping a positive attitude in these 5-set matches is crucial and I give them full credit.”
San Marino defeated La Cañada in Dingus Memorial Fieldhouse by scores of 20-25, 25-22. 18-25, 25-22 and 15-13. Junior Keila Barra led the offensive onslaught with 22 kills and two aces. Senior Nicole Doerges supplemented the hitting attack and also racked up aces, as did Morgan Woodward. Senior Jackie Brougham recorded four blocks.
San Marino went on the road Tuesday and upset South Pasadena by scores of 25-15, 18-25, 18-25, 25-17 and 15-9. Again, it was the steady hand of Barra, who collected 19 kills and five aces. Freshman Erin Hill chipped in with a pair of blocks as the Lady Titans improved to 3-1 in Rio Hondo League action.
That tally is more than likely to have improved to 4-1 after Thursday, when San Marino faced off with Blair. A 4-1 mark in the first half of the league season would be impressive.
“Nicole has really been doing a great job of staying positive and keeping the team on a positive track,” said Rios. “We have done a lot of activities that have helped in that area.”
The coach also praised setter Hannah Wang, a junior.
“Hannah has been doing very well regardless of how efficient our serve receive has been,” said Rios. “She is our quiet assassin. Hannah does a lot of work to chase down passes and give good sets that helps out our hitters. She deserves a lot of credit for her efforts.”
The only blemish on the Lady Titans’ ledger is a 3-1 loss to Monrovia in the league opener.
“If we fix our mistakes from that Monrovia game, we can go 5-0 in the second half of league and possibly win the league title,” said Rios.
That’s something that hasn’t been done in quite a while. Try the 90s.
