Imperial regains form, upends Palo Verde
IMPERIAL — The Imperial High School Tiger volleyball team opened their Imperial Valley League season defeating the visiting Palo Verde Valley High Yellowjackets here Thursday night.
Imperial took the match three games to one, winning 25-14, 25-16, 23-25 and 25-17.
“I have a great group, and they work hard but sometimes we lose communication,” said Imperial coach Jill Lerno. “We are basically pretty young, but what I do like is that my seniors are leaders this year, and that’s what a team needs.”
Imperial controlled the first two games of the match, never trailing and controlling the tempo but in game three they seemed disorganized and committed unforced errors.
“We lost communication in the middle games but were able to get it back in game four,” said junior middle blocker Abby Ormand. “The crowd really helped in the last game with their enthusiasm, which kept our heads in it.”
Ormand led the Tigers at the net with 11 kills and two blocks, while Cady Davis had nine kills, and Alyssa Chavarria and Liliver Sanchez had five kills each.
“Usually it’s me and Cady that they set to, but if one of us is getting blocked, they’ll set to the other hitters,” Ormand said.
Game four started out as a see-saw affair, similar to game three, but Imperial prevailed behind the serving of junior Shaylinn Mays, whose serves gave the Tigers stability on offense against the Jackets.
“In that situation, I’m trying to get the serve in. An ace is always nice, but the job is to get the ball in play,” Mays, who had 15 service points and three aces said.
Mays is a pitcher on the Tiger softball team and knows that working hard in practice improves performance in pressure situations.
“I try to work hard on my serves in practice to get points for my team,” Mays said. “There is a lot of pressure when you serve to get the ball over the net, but in a way, I’m used to it from pitching.”
Lerno said she appreciates having someone like Mays on her team.
“She’s really consistent, and she’s not going to make unforced errors. … With her on the court, we seem to jell as a team,” Lerno said.
For the match, Jayce Pendley had 14 set assists, and Julianna Camalick had 13 assists. Defensively Ale de la Trinidad had 22 digs; Chavarria, 18 digs; and Lexi Ruiz, 10.
Imperial (7-4, 1-0 IVL) travels to Holtville on Tuesday for a match with the Vikings scheduled for 6 p.m.