Orangewood Academy (10-1) topped Glendale Adventist (0-5) for the second time in three days. The Spartans registered a 25-14, 26-24, 22-25, 25-23 home victory Tuesday.
“The previous match was similar to the first two games we played [Thursday],” Gomez said. “We came out by starting off flat and then we rallied in the third game.
“The fourth game was back and fourth. We made a couple of mistakes that cost us a few points and we just came up short a few points.”
The Cougars had more than their share of opportunities to win the first game. However, the Spartans used their experience to close out the opener before easily taking the second game.
Glendale Adventist, which didn’t qualify for the playoffs last season, showed some spark in the third game. The Cougars fended off match point at 24-23 before closing out on a 3-0 run.
“We knew the match wasn’t over when we were down 2-0,” Gomez said. “We were able to feed off the energy that we got from our offense.”
The Cougars seized control of the match temporarily in the fourth game. They took a 10-8 lead on a kill by opposite hitter Jordan Khoe, but the Spartans used an 8-2 run to take a 16-12 advantage. A kill by Khoe cut Orangewood Adventist’s lead to 22-21. The Spartans sealed the win by grabbing three of the next four points.
Orangewood Adventist Coach Leslie Aragon said the two matches against Glendale Adventist were similar.
“On Tuesday, I thought Glendale Adventist played better,” said Aragon, who received 14 kills from outside hitter/setter Steven Morales and 11 from outside hitter/setter Collin Monty. “If they could have served better [Thursday], there might have been a fifth game.
“All four games [Thursday] were close and contested.”
The Cougars got 12 digs from middle blocker Nick Do, 26 assists from setter Eshban Lee and 10 kills and eight digs from Khoe.
