Merced College volleyball rides defense to season-opening sweep

In a display of flexibility many yogis would envy, Nalee Thao waited crouched just inches above Don Reid Court’s polished hardwood.

The Merced College sophomore libero read the Siskiyous attack, then in a flash of her neon jersey, laid out with her arms extended to pop a ball back into the air. It was a common occurrence Wednesday evening. Siskiyous’ front line quartet of 6-plus-footers bombed away over the Lady Devils’ block, but Thao (team-high 11 digs) was there time and again.

She wasn’t alone. Defense is the point of emphasis on an undersized MC volleyball team and it was on full display in a 25-21, 25-21, 25-20 sweep of the Eagles on Wednesday night.

“I get a little nervous knowing the other teams are going to be bigger than us,” Thao said. “But our block did a really good job. We’re not expecting them to block too many balls, but they forced their hitters to hit to a certain side, which makes things easier for us. I know I’m going to get a lot of chances to touch the ball, but I’m ready for it and I know my teammates are ready for it.”

Lindsey Hartman helped MC (1-0) get the season started on the right foot. The sophomore came out swinging in the first set, recording seven of her match-high 15 kills. Her seventh kill finished off the 25-21 victory.

MC carried the momentum of that win into the next set, jumping out to a 6-0 lead behind the serve of Dayanna Torres. The El Capitan grad and reigning Western Athletic Conference MVP had a strong collegiate debut, recording a team-high 20 assists and five aces.

The Lady Devils never trailed in the second set and cruised to a 2-0 lead.

“We played exactly the way we need to play to win,” Merced coach Jessica Casey said. “We covered everything. We received well. We served well and we ran things with speed. The thing that makes me most proud is that they implemented everything we’ve worked on the last couple of weeks. Sometimes as a coach it’s like you’re just talking to yourself, but they obviously listened.”

After two pretty polished performances in the opening sets, MC opened the third a little sloppy.

A couple of unforced errors and some hitting mistakes helped Siskiyous (0-1) take an early lead and got Monique Paogofie (team-high eight kills) going offensively as the Eagles built an 8-6 edge.

Rachel Kaler answered for the Lady Devils. After a quiet start to the evening, the sophomore outside hitter finished strong with five of her 11 kills coming in the third set. Included in that was a big tip that sparked a 7-1 run. Merced took a 14-9 lead and never trailed again.

“That went very well,” Hartman said. “We did everything we needed to do to win. We played strong defense, had good communication and our setters did a great job moving the ball around so they couldn’t tell where the attack was coming from.

“I’m very pleased and feel like we can only get better from here.”

This story was originally published August 31, 2016 at 8:14 PM with the headline "Merced College volleyball rides defense to season-opening sweep."