Fullerton, Calif. - After opening the season with two wins, on Wednesday, the women's volleyball team wasn't as fortunate on the second day of action at the HIU Summer Slam Tournament. The Golden Eagles dropped both of their matches on Thursday. First, the team dropped a four-set decision to The Master's University, followed by a straight set loss, to Aquinas College (Grand Rapids, MI), to finish off the day. La Sierra will host their own tournament this coming Tuesday and Wednesday, at the Alumni Pavilion.
The Master's def. La Sierra, 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-19, 25-13)
The Golden Eagles started strong, holding the lead for much of the first set, but unable to jump out to the early lead in the match. The Mustangs came from behind and survived, despite dropping the second set to the Golden Eagles. The Master's service game kept the Golden Eagles off balance and finished the match with 11 service aces, with none of their players reaching double figures in total kills. The Golden Eagles even collected five more kills than the Mustangs (45-40) but were outhit by a percentage of .151 to .080.
Ashlin Orosco led all players with 13 kills, followed by Kiana Krumm's 12 kills. Krumm also added 16 digs, which was a match-high, along with Angala Jensen's 38 assists.
Aquinas def La Sierra, 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-21)
In their final match of the two-day tournament, the Golden Eagles faced Aquinas College who received votes in the first installment of this year's preseason rankings. The Saints capitalized on some Golden Eagles errors to start the match and never looked back. Aquinas almost doubled up the Golden Eagles in total kills (41-24) and outhit La Sierra .258 to .100. The match could prove to be a good, early season, challenge that the team can gain some valuable experience to draw upon down the road.
While the Golden Eagles offense was held in check, they finished with two players (Michele Mendizabal and Krumm) tallying five kills apiece. Jensen added another 11 assists, while Morgan finished with 13 digs.
La Sierra will be hosting their invitational tournament on Tuesday and Wednesday of the coming week. On Tuesday, their home opener will be a 12pm match versus St. Katherine University, followed by a match against Westmont College, at 8pm to close out the first day of action. The Golden Eagles will play two matches on each day of the tournament. Matches begin at 8 am each morning and will run every two hours, through 8pm on Tuesday and 4pm on Wednesday.
