PC volleyball falls in five to Merced
The up and down night for the Porterville College volleyball team went to the wire with the Pirates falling just short.
“It was a big roller coaster ride,” said PC coach Dale Henderson after his team fell to Merced 26-28, 25-19, 18-25, 25-20, 13-15 on Wednesday at home. The Pirates led 13-12 in the fifth game on back-to-back kills by Katrina Goulbourne before it struggled defensively at the end as the Blue Devils scored the last three points of the match.
“We’re still struggling with our ball control,” said Henderson, who said his team’s breakdown in ball control proved costly on the final two points after the score was tied 13-13. “We didn’t have an opportunity to run the play becausee we couldn’t control the ball,” Henderson said.
“They’re fighting. They’re in the game. I just think they need to have a little more confidence in themselves.”
Porterville’s ball control troubles ultimately proved costly in games one and three, leading to Merced runs that proved to be the difference of the match. Merced went on an 11-1 lead to take an 11-3 lead in game one and the Pirates found themselves scrambling for the rest of the game.
“We started off in a hole that we tried to fight back and it’s too late to fight back,” Henderson said.
Porterville also led 15-10 and 17-15 in game three but Merced went on a 9-1 run to close out that game.
In game five, Jennifer Landers’ kill just inside the back line tied the score 11-11 before Goulbourne’s two kills gave PC the 13-12 lead but the Pirates faltered at the end.
Porterville took a 2-0 lead in game one on Goulbourne’s kill from the back row and an ace by Sabina Lopez before Merced’s run. PC (3-8, 2-3 in the Central Valley Conference) came back behind Goulbourne, who had eight kills in game one.
Two kills by Sylvia Ramirez brought PC to within 23-21 and then Lopez made a great save as with her back to the net, her pass found an opening in Merced’s defense to make it 23-22. Ramirez followed with a dink to tie the score 23-23.
Lopez appeared to make a beautiful two-handed dink that would have given Porterville a 24-23 lead but was called for a double hit, giving Merced a 24-23 lead instead. But Merced was then called for a double hit, tying the score 24-24. PC had two game points at 25-24 and 26-25 when Ramirez had a nice two-handed push dink down the line. But Merced scored the last three points to pull out the game.
It was another slow start in game two when PC fell behind 6-0 but Ramirez had two jump serves for aces that began a run that helped pull Porterville to within 7-5. Merced forged ahead 11-5 before Landers served for six straight points during a 9-1 run that gave PC a 14-12 lead.
Porterville took ultimate control on Jessie Erickson’s ace that made it 23-18 and Goulbourne finished off the game with back-to-back kills on the final two points.
Jessica Gutierrez served for back-to-back aces, beginning a run that ultimately saw Porterville take a 15-10 lead. But Merced gradually fought back. Goulbourne’s kill gave PC a 21-18 lead but Merced finished the game with a 7-0 run.
PC led 20-14 in game four on a Ramirez kill. Merced closed to within 21-19 but a well-placed hit from the back row from Laura Jaggers helped PC regain control and take a 22-19 lead. Goulbourne and Crystal Bueno then combined on a block to give Porterville a 23-19 lead and Landers served for an ace on game point.
Goulbourne had 24 kills and five blocks, Ramirez had 18 kills, one assist and four jump serves for aces, Landers had eight kills, 13 assists and five digs and Stephanie Dounseroux had 36 assists, one dig and one kill for PC.
