Posted on 01 October 2012 by laha1016
La Habra’s girls volleyball team struggled mightily in Monday night’s 3-0 Freeway League loss to Fullerton at Fullerton High.
The match in its entirety was uncharacteristic of the Lady Highlanders, who struggled from the back line and found it difficult to connect passes, while Fullerton kept things together in the 25-18, 25-16, 25-16 win.
“They didn’t play, they just didn’t play today,” said Adrianne Spear, La Habra head coach. “To come in to a Monday game and have to be ready to play is a bit tougher, but their heads just weren’t in the game today and it wasn’t just one or two kids, it was all of them, it was just an off night for us.”
La Habra’s lone bright spot came in the beginning of the match when Ashly Hernandez held serve for six consecutive points and the Lady Highlanders ultimately took an early 14-9 lead.
However, the struggles came quickly and never let up for La Habra’s back line, as Fullerton’s Faith Rockmore, Taylor Browne and Brooke Castillo tallied up aces throughout the match.
After the early lead, the Lady Indians went on a 16-4 run to close out the match. Rockmore led with five kills and Haley Schulte tallied eight assists in the first set.
“Because of the balance, it’s important to get off to a good start and I’m pleased with that,” said Wendy Gobar, Fullerton head coach. “Even in some of the games we start off slow, but we’re able to turn it around and get to 25, so I’m happy with that.”
Rockmore would set the tone for Fullerton in the second set with seven kills.
The Lady Indians were dangerous when Rockmore was on the front line, but when she rotated to the back, La Habra was able to take some points.
The second set went back-and-forth until Rockmore moved back up to the front line. The result of that move was a 9-1 run that put Fullerton at a 23-13 lead.
The teams traded points until Fullerton won the set 25-16.
Fullerton jumped out ahead in the third set thanks to Castillo, who had two long service runs.
“She’s getting better with every game,” Gobar said. “She’s just gaining confidence all the time and that’s nothing but good for us.”
In the first run, she recorded her first ace of the match and Fullerton’s defense held La Habra’s attack at bay.
However, in her second run, Castillo tallied four consecutive aces as the duo of Madeline Martin and Samantha Dominguez failed to make contact and at times, failed to communicate who would go after the ball.
“We just didn’t think to adjust quick enough,” Spear said. “They know to adjust if they give up one or two points quickly, but they weren’t doing that. I’m not going to blame it on the heat or the time change, they just didn’t play.”
Browne would also hold serve and Rockmore closed it out with three consecutive points to end the match, giving Fullerton at least a share of the Freeway League lead at 2-0.
Corinne Bell and Lexi Kolschefski earned seven kills apiece for La Habra, while Hernandez led with 12 assists and Nicole Mann added seven more.
Rockmore led the Lady Indians with 15 kills and Courtney Clark contributed with seven kills. Schulte finished the match with 24 assists.
“We need to play harder on defense,” Gobar said in terms of preparing for Sonora. “Although our passing was pretty good tonight, we could always improve there as well.”
After the long five-set match with Sonora last Thursday, Spear believes this experience could be that early eye-opener that her team needs to get back and compete in the Freeway League.
The Lady Highlanders will host Buena Park, Wednesday.
“We will have an intense practice, I’ve already told them they’re not getting it easy,” Spear said. “We will be prepared for Wednesday, I’m not sure what to expect for Wednesday, but we will prepare for what we need to be prepared for.”
