It took the Mesa Vista High School volleyball team two full sets of action to find a sense of urgency, Oct. 2, against Pecos High School.
After losing the first set of the match, 25-11, and then the second set, 25-10, a come-back seemed far-fetched due to the way Pecos was dominating the game play.
Somewhere in the break between the second and third set, the Lady Trojans found their stride. They opened the third set with a 7-0 lead, showcasing a renewed energy and mistakeless defense.
Junior Aubrianna Martinez had this seven-point serving streak, gathering one ace in the process. Pecos finally broke Martinez’s serving spell with a hit that rolled over the top of the net, the ball hitting the floor away from any Mesa Vista players.
The single point launched a momentum swing for Pecos, in which the Lady Panthers clawed their way back to lead, 9-8. The remainder of the set stayed close, but some late mistakes from the Lady Trojans cost them the game. Pecos took the set 25-21, and the game 3-0.
“I know what they’re capable of,” Mesa Vista senior Maryssa Martin said. “The first two sets just isn’t my team. I know they can play better … We should have been playing like that since the beginning.”
Throughout the course of the game, the Lady Trojans had difficulty formulating dangerous attacks.
With their hardest hitter, Alyssa Suazo, on the bench with a knee injury, the team lacked a go-to player to spike the ball.
In the first two sets, Mesa Vista got most of their points from Pecos mistakes, whether that was a ball hit into the net or out of bounds. The Lady Panthers set up a good number of threatening attacks, and they worked the open space that Mesa Vista left on the sides.
In the final set, the Lady Trojans continued to have trouble spiking the ball, but that gave them no worry, as they made no mistakes on the defensive side of the ball. They controlled play with agile, soft digs, and waited for Pecos to struggle with the ball.
Martin said the team’s focus in practice lately has been on defense, especially with digging the ball.
“We’re doing better than the beginning, way better, but I think we will get better throughout the season,” Martin said.
Head coach Juana Hernandez echoed Martin’s sentiment, adding that the inexperienced team grows every game.
Four players on the current varsity volleyball squad were on last year’s varsity team. What’s more, the team is playing with an eighth-grader at libero, the energetic Ariana Sandoval.
“She holds her own,” Hernandez said of Sandoval. “She is actually doing a really good job. I can’t wait to see her next year and in the years to come.”
The season is not completely lost for the Lady Trojans, though, as they have most of their district play scheduled for the end of the season.