Kings now 12-0 following win against Hawks
Gila Ridge loses lengthy leads in 2nd, 3rd sets; Kofa sweeps — 25-21, 25-22, 25-23
The Gila Ridge volleyball team got closer and closer each set, taking leads past the midway point in the fi- nal two, but ended up getting swept.
Kofa — undefeated with a 12-0 record and ranked No. 8 in the 6A Conference before Monday’s match — took down the Hawks for the second time in six days with a 3-0 win Monday at Ernest F. Rillos Gymnasium.
Everything is clicking right now for the Kings, who have yet to be taken to five sets and have only lost a set three times in 12 matches.
“This team has really, really good chemistry together,” Kofa coach Brittany Garcia said. “I think that’s been a huge difference. … I have a lot of seniors on my team that have been playing together for a while, and I think that that chemistry has really helped them this year.
“Defensively, they know where they’re supposed to be. Offensively, they’re hitting the ball really well. They’re being really aggressive.”
Aggression was the key for the Kings on Monday. They trailed the Hawks late in the second and third sets but rallied for 25-22 and 2523 wins, respectively. Kofa won, 25-21, in the first set.
“We made a lot of little
mistakes, errors on our part,” Garcia said. “I was just telling them, ‘We’ve got to try to minimize those mistakes. If Gila Ridge is going to get a point, they have to earn it.’ I just kind of put that in their heads.”
The leaders in kills for the Kings were junior Keiley Sharp (six), and seniors Jessica Galindo and Laura Sanderson (five apiece). Isabel Ponce had 20 assists, and Pam Aguilar had 16 digs.
For Gila Ridge (7-4 AIA), it was an accumulation of misfirings on serves that caused problems late in those sets. The Hawks were successful on long rallies, and found themselves unable to maintain the momentum for sustained runs of points like their counterparts did.
“Missed serves at inopportune times become a real problem when you work so hard for a rally to get a point back, and then give it back to them,” Gila Ridge coach Tricia Ellsworth said. “That’s a tough one.”
Ellsworth was not dissatisfied with the result, and said the performance of Gila Ridge was an improvement upon the 3-1 defeat Sept. 19. But her takeaway from Monday’s loss, in addition to the missed serves, was the inability to finish.
“When you’re up, you’ve got to stay up and not let somebody sneak back in on you,” Ellsworth said. “We need to find a way to, once we get that lead, hold that lead.”
Gila Ridge senior Tayler Ellsworth had had a nice night, totaling eight kills, three blocks, two aces, three digs and 10 assists. Sophomore Kaylin Ellsworth had two kills, two aces, eight digs and seven assists. Senior Katiana Oviedo had a team-best four blocks to go along with seven kills and an ace.
Kofa will look to keep its perfect record alive Thursday at Maryvale, the last-ranked team in 6A with an 0-8 record. The Hawks are also on the road Thursday at Yuma High.