The Moses Lake Christian Academy Lions defeated Columbia Basin Secondary School on Tuesday night to improve their record to 4-0. New coach Amanda Saenz has encouraged the team to play smart volleyball and the fundamentally sound play has allowed the Lions to roar on the court.

"That's the thing about this group of girls, when they have to tone down the emotion and play a smart game they do, and it shows." Saenz said.

The Lions jumped out to an early lead winning the first game 25-15 behind the strong serving of senior Ashley Rickards, who had nine aces on the evening. They kept their momentum rolling into the second game, winning 25-20. Moses Lake Secondary came to life in the third game, winning the game 14-25. The crowd was small, but what they lacked in numbers they made up for in noise, chanting and rooting on their respective teams throughout the entire event. With the Lions up two games to one, the fourth match would put pressure on both teams.

"Honestly we can play better as a group, but we played smart volleyball when things got tough." Saenz said.

The Lions saw an early lead begin to slip away in the fourth game before regaining composure and running away with the game, finishing with a kill shot to win 25-22. Senior Susan Timofeyev played strong late in the contest and finished with 12 kills. Sophomore Anna Yarbro also contributed four big blocks on the Lions way to victory.

"Susan and Ashley, the team captains, are good at leading our team in key moments and calm the girls down to get them to play strong when it matters. This team is only going to get better as the season continues." Saenz said.

The win improves MLCA's record to 4-0 on the year and they are gaining confidence each game. Their next contest will be Thursday night at Daystar Gym when they play host to Easton. With a new coach and strong senior leadership the Lions are looking to go far in their 2013 season.