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Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009

Volleyball: Jay a joy in Merced College home loss

At 5-foot-10, Hannah Jay isn't the most imposing middle blocker in the Central Valley Conference.

But what the Merced College freshman lacks in overwhelming size, she more than makes up for in energy.

Jay's shown an ability to swing momentum the Lady Devils' way with a flurry of blocks throughout the season.

She was at it again on Wednesday evening, providing MC a much-needed spark in a CVC matchup with Porterville.

Already down a game and trailing 17-13 in Game 2, Jay helped spark a 12-2 run with a pair of kills and blocks to even things at 1-1.

However, MC couldn't sustain its momentum and Porterville pulled out the 25-20, 19-25, 25-23, 25-19 victory in MC's gym.

"We were right there in every game again," said Jay, who finished with three stuff blocks and numerous rejections. "It's becoming kind of a headache.

"We compete the whole match and then just can't pull the games out in the end."

Lack of consistency doomed the Lady Devils (3-7 CVC, 8-10) on Wednesday.

Porterville had eight aces in the match and put constant pressure on the MC defense with a solid service game.

As a result, the Lady Devils' offense never found a rhythm.

"Our serve-receive hurt us again and the frustrating part is that's something we can control," MC coach Jessica Casey said. "We could have put a stop to some of their big runs right away by just making a couple little adjustments, and we didn't."

Porterville (6-3, 12-5) didn't have any such problems.

Setter Laura Lopez (41 assists) ran a steady offense as Evan Dillon (match-high 17), Katrina Goulbourne (11) and Olga Vasquez (11) all reached double-digit kills.

Dillon's biggest kill closed out a back-breaking 25-23 game three win for Porterville.

Porterville built a commanding 23-14 lead in Game 4 and then held on to secure the win.

"I thought we were right there playing with them for games one, two and three," Casey said. "But a different team showed up for game four.

"I don't know if it's a confidence thing, but we looked like we stopped believing we could beat them."

Kahea Smith came in off of the bench to lead MC with nine kills, while Jay added eight.

Laura Meller led MC with a team-high 19 assists.

Central Valley Conference

PORTERVILLE 3, MERCED COLLEGE 1

At Merced College

PORTERVILLE -- Kills: Evan Dillon 17; Assists: Laura Lopez 41; Blocks: Olga Velasquez 2; Aces: Lopez 3.

MERCED COLLEGE -- Kills: Kahea Smith 9; Assists: Laura Meller 19; Blocks: Cassie Fensin 4; Digs: Kayla Clarot 6; Aces: Trisha Flanagan 3.

Records: Porterville 6-3 CVC, 12-5; Merced College 3-7 CVC, 8-10.