Eagles Won Volleyball Thrillers in Last Two Home Matches

Playing home matches, the Eagle volleyball team knows how to keep fans on the edge of their seats and bring a tension-filled story to a satisfying conclusion.

A determined group of Eagles rallied from the brink of defeat to win its last two Golden Valley Conference home matches against Lassen and Redwoods in five sets.

"I was close to a heart attack," said interim head coach Jess Petricevic.

Players and fans were trapped between euphoria and heartache in the fifth set against Lassen on Oct. 16th. Needing to score 15 points first and win by at least two points, the Eagles never let up after trailing 9-12.

A cacophony of clapping, screaming, and the rattling of wooden bleachers followed each point as the Eagles would tie the score then lose a point, fall behind then win a point, take the lead then lose a point. They were behind 13-14, 14-15, 15-16, 16-17. They led 18-17 and 19-18, then the whole place burst into celebration when the winning point fell.

"The momentum can shift in one point," Petricevic said. "You can win a long rally and gain the momentum."

The Eagles seemed to have that momentum in hand after they won a long third set against Lassen 30-28 and took the lead 2 sets to 1. Then they fell flat and lost the fourth set 12-25.

Against Redwoods on Oct. 25th, the momentum shifted every time the teams changed sides. Redwoods won 25-20, the Eagles won 25-12, then Redwoods won 25-18.

In danger of not getting to a fifth set, the Eagles came from behind late to narrowly win the fourth set 25-23. Then they put a stranglehold on the momentum after tying the fifth set at 3-3 on a tip by Josie Cole and taking the lead for good on a spike by Ajhana Tagler.

They closed out the set and match with 3 more successful spikes by Tagler, who also teamed with Quincy Paarsch for a point-scoring block. Cole scored on a spike and setter Isabella Colombo ended a long rally with a spike of her own. The Eagles scored the final three points of their 15-8 win when Redwoods hit the ball out on two spikes and failed to get it over the net while executing their offense.

All along the way members of the soccer team in the north-west corner of the gym used their voices to build up tension before shouting "Bang" when the Eagles served or smashed a spike.

"It depends on how in-system everyone is, how clean and clear-headed we are and if we're in the right spot," Petricevic said of the shifting momentum. "We went into the match against Redwoods fairly confident, but they were good at keeping our serves at bay and controlling the ball. We had some lulls and let them get too many runs on serve receive. We were a little off; we're usually fairly strong on serve receive. But we brought down our service errors, and it was good to come out strong and be our most confident in the fifth set."

Highlights in the Lassen match included a series of back-to-back-to-back standing digs on hard hit balls by Quincy Paarsch. Her teammates and students in the stands were howling.

Cole had 11 kills, Sadie Graviet 10, Heitiare Moala 7, Colombo 7, Paarsch 6, Hailey Rock 5 and Tagler 5.

Libero Amelia Gastelum had 19 digs and 4 aces, Paarsch had 17 digs and 5 aces, Colombo had 36 assists and 12 digs, and Sarah Speasl had 10 digs.

Graviet (13 kills) and Tagler (12 kills) were the Eagles top attackers against Redwoods, while Cole had 6 kills and Paarsch 5.

Gastelum had 22 digs, Zoe Brooks 14, Colombo 11, Paarsch 10, and Samantha Oakley 8. Gastelum had 4 of the team's 8 service aces.

Colombo had 36 assists and 3 kills and continued, as Petricevic put it, to be "a strong force for energy, keeping the team rallying and going forward."

The Eagles lost at Shasta and Feather River between those two home victories, but after the win over Redwoods, Petricevic said, "I see it as a starting point for the season. The past few weeks gave us a good indication of our strengths and weaknesses. Now we're going forward and want to hone in on our areas of strength."

They then went to Lassen Wednesday night and won with a lot less drama, 25-23, 15-25, 25-16, 25-22. That evened their record at 3-3 in conference and 14-14 overall.

After playing at Butte Nov. 6th, the Eagles will play their final two home matches of the season against the teams at the top of the GVC standings: Friday, Nov. 8th against Shasta and Wednesday, Nov. 13th against Feather River.

By Steve Gerace