It was a bit of an up and down affair for the Porterville College volleyball team, but in the end, the Pirates took command of second place in the Central Valley Conference.
PC completed a season sweep of third place Taft by sweeping the Cougars on Friday at home, winning 25-20, 25-19, 25-9. Porterville, ranked No. 16 in the state and No. 7 in Northern California, improved to 13-8 and 8-2 in the CVC and is now well on its way to another state playoff appearance.
It looked Porterville was well on its way to an easy win in game one when it jumped out to a 21-8 lead. But the Pirates struggled to close out the game before finally closing it out and the hangover continued in game two when PC fell behind 4-0. Porterville would gradually go on to take control of game two.
But the Pirates had no problems in game three, controlling the game from start to finish. PC jumped out to a 7-0 lead, with Melissa Vernon serving for the last six points and an ace during the run. Vernon was 19-of-19 serving.
Randi Story went on to serve for five straight points as the Pirates took a 14-3 lead. Story had an outstanding all-around match, going 16-for-16 serving with one ace while picking up 27 digs. “Randi’s doing awesome,” PC coach Dale Henderson said.
Nayeli Colunga had 11 kills, nine digs and two blocks, Chantelle Brown had seven kills and four blocks, Meranda Watkins had 12 kills and eight digs, Vernon had six kills and four digs, Sam Sawyer had 36 assists and two kills and Vianey Gonzalez added two kills and two blocks for PC.
“Game one and game two was a roller coaster ride,” Henderson said. “I told them we had to be consistent. We came back to form in game three.”
Henderson also said in game three his team “played the way we did on Wednesday,” referring to Wednesday night’s match in which PC took Fresno City to the limit before losing in five games.
GIRLS WATER POLO
MONACHE 15, EXETER 4
Senior Shannon Kaye had a huge night on senior night for Monache (22-8, 6-2 in the East Yosemite League), scoring eight goals. Also for Monache, Alyssa Cabeje, Cassandra Ream and McKenzie Beardsley all scored twice, Isabel LoBue scored once and goalie Tarah Patterson made nine saves. Monache led 5-0 after one quarter, 9-3 at halftime and 12-4 after three quarters.
BOYS WATER POLO
MONACHE 15 EXETER 7
Goalie Sal Arrredondo had 11 saves and one steal, Austin Badders scored five goals, Zack Acencio scored four goals, Greg Porter scored three goals, Ryan Tristao scored twice and Ryelee Fitton scored once for Monache (5-3 in the EYL).