Ukiah, CA - The Mendocino College Women’s Volleyball team lost to Yuba College on Friday October 12, 30-28, 30-26 and 30-28.  The loss drops the Eagles to 3-3 in the Bay Valley Conference.

According to Mendocino Head Coach Ori Polkinghorne, the match was a lot closer than the straight-set victory indicates.   “Both teams went back and forth all night and the margin of loss was eight points total for the entire match.  We’re definitely disappointed to not have pulled this one off at home.  The good news is that we are still in the thick of things,” Polkinghorne said. 

Mendocino got strong performances from their defensive specialist unit including Sophomore Sarah Luetke (Yreka) who had 15 digs, Sophomore Alisa Cannia (Fort Bragg) had 13 digs, Freshman Marcie Brendlen (Anderson Valley) had nine digs and Freshman Cassie Willis (Clearlake) had four digs.

Although the Eagles’ offense continued to struggle with its consistency, hitting an anemic .045 for the match, Sophomore Jamie Brown (Potter Valley) and Freshman Passion Allen LeNard (Lower Lake) led Mendocino with nine and eight kills respectively.

Mendocino plays a critical home match Wednesday night against Los Medanos College. The outcome of the match will determine whether the Eagles finish the first round of conference play with a record of 4-3 or 3-4. 

“We need to hit the second round with a head of steam.  Our young ladies are working very hard and we are making adjustments—I expect us to be a lot tougher the second time through,” Polkinghorne added.

Wednesday night’s match begins at 6:30 in the Mendocino College gymnasium.

Ukiah, CA - The Mendocino College Women’s Volleyball team dropped a Bay Valley Conference match to first place Napa Valley College on Wednesday October 10.

The visiting Eagles could not get on track against the Storm, who raised their conference record to 5-0, with the 30-10, 30-18 and 30-18 victory.

“They were solid in all aspects of the game, which gave us a pretty small window of opportunity to beat them. “We finally started playing right with them in game three—which was way too late—there were stretches where we played well against a strong team, which is encouraging,” Mendocino Head Coach Ori Polkinghorne said.

Mendocino usually feasts on teams at the service line, with the likes of Freshman Shana Hiatt (Clearlake) and Freshman Jenn Cox (Upper Lake), who are ranked first and fourth, respectively, in ace per game average in the conference.  However, the Eagles could manage only one ace the entire match versus Napa Valley.  Mendocino had averaged 5.5 aces per game against the rest of the conference.

Sophomore Jamie Brown (Potter Valley) led the Eagles with an impressive performance, pounding out seven kills in fourteen attempts and no errors for a .500 hitting average.  Brown added four solo blocks and four blocking assists.

“Jamie was on tonight, we just couldn’t get her the ball enough, she blocked very well too,” Polkinghorne added.

Mendocino’s record  is now 3-2 in the BVC and 6-8 overall. 

EAGLES CRUSH ALAMEDA 

Ukiah, CA - The Mendocino College Women’s Volleyball team scored a decisive 3-set victory over visiting College of Alameda Wednesday October 3.

The 30-20, 30-20, 30-14 win against the Comets improved the Eagles’ record in the Bay Valley Conference to 2-1 and 5-7 overall.

“We weren’t as efficient on offense as we should have been, but this was definitely a good win for us.” “Our strong defense and great serving powered us tonight—Shana had an impressive night,” Mendocino Head Coach Ori Polkinghorne said.

Shana Hiatt, a 5’9” freshman from Clear Lake High, dominated Alameda from the service line racking up ten aces on the night.  Hiatt served 12 straight points in game two alone to break the game and the match wide open for the Eagles.

Mendocino got a strong performance at the net from Freshman Passion Allen LeNard (Lower Lake), who recorded eight kills along with four digs and four aces.  Defensive standouts for the Eagles were Sophomre Sarah Luetke (Yreka) who dug up 18 balls and Freshman Marcie Brendlen (Anderson Valley) who added ten digs.

            For information concerning Mendocino College Athletics, visit www.mendocino.edu.

MENDO SURVIVES  ”SCARE” FROM LANEY

Collegiate volleyball on an All-Hallows-Eve provided plenty of thrills as the Mendocino College Women’s Volleyball team battled Laney College of Oakland to a four-set victory: 22-30,32-30,30-23, and 31-29.

The host Eagles started slowly and watched the 2-9 Laney roll past them in game one, before they got down to business and swept the next three games.  Laney was led by the talented and athletic Jaydelynn Suava, who seemed to be everywhere on the court.  Throughout the night, the lead changed hands often and Mendocino found it very difficult to put away a scrappy Laney team.

Eagles’ Head Coach Ori Polkinghorne thought that the match was too close for comfort, “ It was pretty scary.  We escaped with a win, which is great, but we almost allowed this to go to a fifth game.  If I was in the stands, it probably would have been entertaining with all of the back and forth.  To me, it wasn’t always pretty but give our ladies credit for pulling out a win.”

Fortunately for the Eagles, Shana Hiatt (Freshman, Clear Lake) had one of her best performances of the year, collecting 11 kills, 11 digs, three blocks, and two aces.  Polkinghorne said of Hiatt, “ She was the difference for us tonight.  Shana had great energy and rhythm at the net, which is something we’ve been working on—it just clicked and we sure needed her effort.”

Other top players for the Eagles, who are now 6-5 in the Bay Valley Conference, were middle hitter Jamie Brown (Sophomore, Potter Valley) who racked up 14 kills in 27 attempts, in addition to her solid overall play.  Setter Jenny Stark (Sophomore, Clear Lake) pushed out 33 assists lead the Eagles’ offense. The Mendo defense was anchored by Freshman Angela Newell (Fort Bragg) who dug up six balls on top of passing well in serve-receive.  Newell also chipped in six kills.

The Eagles wrap up their 2007 home schedule Friday night when they host the first-place Napa Valley Storm.  The match starts at 6:30 pm in the Mendocino College gym.

Created: April 02, 2007 @ 02:01 PM
Last Modified: November 07, 2007 @ 11:31 AM