Pecos outmaneuvers Monte del Sol

For the last four years, Monte del Sol made a name out of playing tough defense in the face of a larger, harder-hitting volleyball opponent.

On Thursday, the Lady Dragons got a taste of what it’s like to be on the other side of that equation. The Pecos Lady Panthers went defensive in a nondistrict match in Genoveva Chavez Community Center, and Monte del Sol could not take advantage of that strategy in a 25-19, 14-25, 25-23, 25-19 win for Pecos.

It was the fourth straight loss for the Lady Dragons, and it puts their postseason hopes in further peril.

But Chela Butler, Monte del Sol’s head coach, simply wants to stop the bleeding from the skid.

“We just can’t put it together,” Butler said. “They had six defensive players, so they didn’t have a block. They just played pure defense on us and we don’t have the firepower to challenge that. The rallies were very long, but unfortunately, we just couldn’t finish some of those close games.”

Monte del Sol had a chance to take control of the match in Game 3, taking a 23-21 lead, but Pecos scored the last four points and used the momentum from that run to carry it to the finish line.

Talia Flaherty had 14 kills to lead the Lady Dragons (8-11) in the hitting department, while Lizbeth Nava and Lia Fukuda collected 14 and 11 assists, respectively. Vianey Garcia had 25 digs in a strong defensive effort, but Monte del Sol could not sustain a strong serving game.

Arianna Gonzales had 11 service points, while Emi Fukuda had eight.

Monte del Sol finishes the regular season at 3 p.m. Saturday with a District 2-3A home match against McCurdy.