Lions take a road loss against Odessa
CALEB PEREZ | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 1 month AGO
Liana Spiek runs toward the net ready to make a play on the ball during practice at the start of the season. The young Lions team experienced a 1-3 loss to Odessa Tuesday evening, but coach Dean Spurbeck said this is a good opportunity for the team to grow at the start of the season.
FILE PHOTO
Emma Collins preparing to pass the ball during a practice at the start of the season. The Lions’ offense showed strength against Odessa as they began improving their passing and making strong outside hits.
MOSES LAKE – The Moses Lake Christian Academy/Christian Covenant School Lions volleyball team fell on the road in their season opener Tuesday evening against Odessa with a final score of 1-3.
“Some of these guys are really young, so they just needed to get that under their belt and relax a little bit,” said Lions head coach Dean Spurbeck. “Next game, hopefully it’ll be better.”
In the first two sets of the day, Odessa had control of the court with a strong serving game, winning both. In the third set, the Lions began to come together offensively and ended up taking a 25-22 win, but were unable to stay ahead in the fourth set, where they lost 18-25.
The strong point for the team came from the offense’s ability to pass the ball for some good rallies, make hits on the outside and put some pressure on their opponent. Spurbeck said the skill the Lions showed in the third set is very encouraging for the season ahead.
Spurbeck said serving was a major issue in the Lions’ game against Odessa. Early on, the team struggled with their own serves and was unable to defend against the serves from their opponent.
For future games, Spurbeck said he wants the team to work on being more prepared in terms of not putting as much pressure on themselves. For many players, this game was their first high school game, so now that they’re used to the environment, he expects the players to be more confident in themselves.
The Lions will also put a focus on training themselves on serving the ball at the next couple of practices.
“It was a good first game because it gives us stuff to look at,” said the coach. “Most of these girls are very young, so hopefully that’ll start loosening them up a little bit and gives us some stuff to go through practice with and work on.”
The Lions’ next game will be on the road Tuesday against Entiat at 6:15 p.m.
BOX SCORE:
MLCA: 11-9-25-18: 1
ODSA: 25-25-22-25: 3
Emma Collins preparing to pass the ball during a practice at the start of the season. The Lions’ offense showed strength against Odessa as they began improving their passing and making strong outside hits.ARTICLES BY CALEB PEREZ
Mavs claim District 5 swim and dive title
MOSES LAKE — The series of successful meets this season fully paid off for the Moses Lake Mavericks girls swim team over the weekend as the girls claimed the District 5 title. By the end of Saturday, the Mavs won the district meet with a score of 466 to Wenatchee's 449. "Just as we expected with Wenatchee, it was close all the way to the end. Could have gone either way, but it went our way," said Mavs Head Coach Tony Preston. "The girls were super excited to get their district championship."
Tigers qualify both boys and girls teams to state
EPHRATA — The Ephrata Tigers Cross Country team continued their successful season in the District 5 and 6 Championships Saturday afternoon. Both the boys and girls had strong races to qualify for state with the boys taking third and the girls taking second. Tigers Head Coach Lyndsy Roberts said because of their high ranking all season the girls team set their sights high on the district meet. Heading into Saturday, they knew their toughest challenge would be against Ellensburg, who has been ranked second in the state all season.
Knights battle into district championships
ROYAL CITY — The second seeded Royal Knights (16-2-1) battled in a tight matchup against the third seeded Naches Valley Saturday afternoon in the district semifinals. Both teams put forward a strong effort, with the Knights securing a 1-0 victory. "We were all putting our heart out in this game and trying our best because we have a really good team this year," said Knights junior Sofia Villafana. "We were just giving it our all." The tone of the game was set from the very start as Royal and Naches Valley went back and forth on their attack. While the Knights controlled the ball for most of the first half, Naches Valley's defense kept things in check.