Volleyball victorious on sophomore night

The recently crowned Pacific Coast Athletic Conference - North Division champion MiraCosta College women's volleyball team added to its undefeated start in conference action with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-9) win over nearby Palomar College on Tuesday night.

It was sophomore night for the Spartans (23-2 overall, 8-0 PCAC - North), who saw Leah McManus, Madeleine Alper, Cady Delay, Cady Francis, Lana Salazar, Roni Long, Mailia Sellers and Allison Swan play their final conference home match in a MiraCosta uniform.

The Spartans earned their ninth straight win for the second time this season, while Palomar (8-13, 5-3), the second-place team in the PCAC - North Division, saw its three-match winning streak snapped. The Comets had not lost since being defeated by MiraCosta back on Oct. 21.

MiraCosta faced an early two-point defecit (8-6) in the opening set, and found themselves down three (12-9) in the second, but made up for it each time with a rally to battle back.

A 7-1 run featuring big blocks by Maddison Penrod and Makayla Sua after a 10-10 tie in the first allowed the Spartans to pull ahead at 17-11. Then in the second set, an Andrianna Visesio ace capped a 5-0 mini-run that turned the three-point defecit into a 14-12 advantage.

Claudia Mathews would earn a kill to finish off each of the first two sets.

In the third and final set, the Spartans would face no such battle as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead and then went ahead 14-3 after a 7-1 run that was finished off by back-to-back aces by Alper.

MiraCosta had seven players post a plus-.300 attack percentage as they finished with a .344 percentage as a team, and were over .308 percent in every set. Claire Kinder and Matthews led with eight kills apiece, Francis and Salazar had 15 and 10 digs respectively, Delay dished 19 assists, and Sua and Penrod finished with 2.5 blocks apiece.

Next up, MiraCosta will begin the PCAC North/South Crossover by hosting the second-place team in the PCAC - South Division, San Diego Mesa College, at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 10. Mesa currently holds a 13-11 overall record and is 7-3 in their division.