West Shores girls fall in non-league play
WEST SHORES — Showing the fortitude of a champion they hope to become, the West Shores High School Wildcat girls volleyball team fell to the visiting Yucca Valley High Trojans three games to two in a preseason volleyball match here Thursday afternoon.
The two teams sparred during the first two games of the match, splitting the games with the Trojans winning game one 25-18 before the Wildcats evened the match with a 25-19 win.
Yucca Valley was the superior team physically as West Shores’ coach Mark Ruiz had anticipated, but he felt that his team was up to the challenge.
“We like no matter who we play. We are never overmatched,” Ruiz said. “This team practices the fundamentals, and we play solid defense that other teams have a problem attacking because we put so much effort into it.”
What those fundamentals played out on the court as were a series of soft sets (two hands) and “dinks” (one hand) that target the open areas of the opponent’s side of the court.
“They are super tall, and we have some new players, and it’s only our second match,” said senior middle blocker Alyssa Williams, who led West Shores with 10 kills. “So I was scanning the court for holes in the defense, and it worked for most of the match.”
West Shores then took a two-games-to-one lead in the match with a thrilling overtime win, downing Yucca Valley 30-28 as the Wildcat defense stymied Yucca Valley’s offense as part of Ruiz’s strategy.
“We wanted them to work on digging up our balls, and that’s why we dinked so much early, to tire them out,” said senior Karen Espinoza, a 4’11” defensive specialist. “When they attacked, the mentality was to return the ball . ... Given my size, my job is to get to everything, and I’ll literally throw myself at the ball.”
Undaunted, the Trojans led the entire game in game four, tying the match with a 25-23 win.
The fifth and deciding game saw the two tired teams continuing to battle, as the game was tied three times, the last at 11-11, after which Yucca Valley reeled off the final points to win the game 15-11.
Ruiz and the Wildcats will soon be competing with schools in the southern half of Imperial County, including Calipatria, Vincent Memorial and Calexico Mission in the Manzanita League, whose championship they won the past two seasons.
“I’ve been with most of these girls for six years including middle school,” Ruiz said. “We have built a relationship, and we are as much a family as a team.”