Lady Bucs lose pair of five-set road battles

WALLA WALLA–The Lady Irish led the third set 23-8 but the Lady Pirates rallied to take a 2-1 lead before dropping the next two sets and the match to DeSales here Sept. 28, one of two road-trip, five-set losses last week.

"We made the biggest comeback that I could remember coaching in over 20 years [of volleyball]" said Head Coach Adam Van Vogt.

"Colton had played really good ball this year and DeSales is in first in their league so we got to play quality opponents and almost won both on the road," said Van Vogt.

Pomeroy captured the first set 25-19, lost 18-25 in the second and thrilled vans with a 26-24 third-set win. The fourth went to the Irish 11-25 and 5-15.

"We came up just short but had many good rallies and made many positive and exciting plays," the coach said. "It would have been nice to win in five instead of lose but these girls had a lot of positive moments against quality opponents, gained close-game experience, and our skills continue to improve."

The Lady Bucs rallied to win by close scores in sets two and four at Colton Sept. 26, and weren't far behind in the 11-5 fifth set.

"Playing two formidable teams on the road as well as we did shows what we can do and our good stretches of volleyball were lots of fun to watch," Van Vogt said.

DeSales set scores: 25-19, 18-25, 26-24, 11-25, 5-15.

Stat Leaders v. Desales: Hannah Bagby: 7 digs, 4 kills, and 5 aces on 14/15 serving; Carmen Fruh: 4 blocks and 4 kills; Haven Kimble: 11 assists and 5 aces on 14/16 serving; Bethany Zimmermann: 9 digs.

Colton set scores: 18-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-22, 11-15

Stat Leaders v. Colton: Haliee Brewer: 12 kills and 2 aces on 12/13 serving; Atalya Mitchell: 14 assists and 2 aces on 13/15 serving; Taylor Gilbert: 6 aces and 5 kills; Haven Kimble: 11 assists and 4 aces on 9/10 serving.