Wildcats down Eagles to avenge lone IVL loss B stem
RAWLEY — An acute outbreak of extreme hoarseness has been reported hereabouts. The symptoms are thought to from an overtaxing of the vocal chords during the Wildcats 3-1 volleyball triumph over the visiting — and previously unbeaten — Southwest Eagles.
The victory moves the Wildcats into a tie with the Eagles for first place in the Imperial Valley League and all but guarantees the Brawley girls a spot in the CIF-SDS Division II playoffs.
It wasn’t the easiest of wins.
Back in September Brawley was playing Southwest at Southwest and found themselves up two games to zip. They looked more than capable of polishing their foes then and there, but they didn’t.
Southwest gutted out a comeback to take that one 3-2, putting them on a fast track to IVL glory.
Last night, the Wildcats found themselves up two games to zip yet again, and yet again the Eagles found a way to stave off defeat, fighting to win the third set 27-25, despite Brawley at one point rallying furiously from 24-18 to tie it.
But this time Southwest couldn’t muscle the comeback any further.
They gave the Wildcats all they wanted in the decider, but ultimately fell short 25-22.
Credit has to be given to the Eagles — they played their hearts out — but at the end of the day, this was Brawley’s match.
The Wildcats came out sharp and quickly established themselves as the tone-setters.
Southwest was constantly on their heels in the face of the potent Brawley attack.
The Wildcats fed outside hitter Emily Godsey relentlessly, and she rewarded their faith with a whole bushel of kills, finishing with 32.
Her power was generally unanswered by the Eagles. Andrea Aguilar had a few booming hits, but mostly Southwest was relegated to a finesse game, partly because of occasionally inconvenient placement at the net.
Brawley setter Jalyn Ayala, made sure her hitters didn’t find themselves in bad spots. Her feathery touch made a big impact en route to 61 assists.
The match result gives the Wildcats a league record of 8-1 (16-11 overall) with the Eagles inches ahead of them at 9-1 (18-10).
Southwest has two IVL games remaining (their next is on Thursday against Imperial at home), while Brawley has three (next up: Palo Verde at home).