Volleyball Falls on the Road to Top Ranked Team in the State

The MiraCosta College women's volleyball team got off to a great start with a first-set win against the No. 1 ranked team in the California Community College Athletic Association, but the Spartans fell behind in set two and early in set three and never recovered.  The final score against the Grossmont Griffins was 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 17-25, 23-25).

Playing with a shorthanded squad minus two starters, the Spartans looked strong early in the match. Violeti Faleumu got things started with a block for the first point of the night, and a kill by Claire Kinder capped a 7-3 spurt for the Spartans that gave them an early 9-5 advantage.

Next, after the Griffins cut the score to one at 9-8, four straight MiraCosta points ignited a 9-3 run that put the Spartans in control.

In the second set, a 6-2 stretch for the Spartans tied it at 7 before four consecutive points for the Griffins turned a 13-12 MiraCosta lead into a 16-13 Grossmont lead.  The Spartans would comeback to tie it again at 19 thanks to a 6-3 run, but then gave up the next three points to eventually lose the set.

After dropping a close second set and falling behind by 10 twice in the third, MiraCosta played well in a fourth set where neither team led by more than two until the Spartans found themselves with a 15-12, and then a 18-13, lead.  MiraCosta reached that point with a big 8-1 run that featured three kills by Maddison Penrod, two kills by Makayla Sua, and a kill and an ace by Faleumu.

However, Grossmont responded the way top-ranked teams do, going on an 8-2 run to go ahead at 21-20 and set up a dramatic ending in the final moments.  MiraCosta bounced back to go ahead 23-22, but the Griffins found the answer to tie the score, and then recorded an ace to set up the final kill to seal the Spartans' fate.

Playing in its second installment of the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference North/South Crossover, the Spartans (23-5) lost their third straight match against teams who are now all ranked in the top 25 in the state of California.