When Owls’ middle blocker Danica Lawrence’s kill sailed helplessly out of bounds, the Pirates knew they had succeeded in a stellar comeback to down the Citrus College Owls in five sets (25-19, 14-25, 17-25, 25-18, 15-10) in the season opener at the Ventura Athletic Center.
Sophomore captain Justine O’Connor lead the Pirates (1-0) to a comeback victory, with 33 assists, many of which were to freshman middle blocker Kayla Phipps, who led the team with 11 kills, along with two blocks and a couple aces.
The Pirates showed how prepared they were for the season opener, taking a 13-12 lead in the first set, and pulled away with a 10-0 run, eventually winning the set 25-19.
Citrus College dominated the next two sets, with great performances by freshman outside hitter Lindsay Mitchell and freshman middle blocker Danica Lawrence. Mitchell had 12 kills and four blocks, while Lawrence added 11 blocks and six kills for the Owls (0-1).
Citrus jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second set and the Pirates could only cut the lead to seven points before Citrus won the second set in convincing fashion, 25-14. The Owls kept knocking the struggling Pirates down with kills from Mitchell and great defense by Lawrence, jumping to a 23-13 lead before eventually winning the set 25-17.
Games four and five saw a different Pirates team. Unfazed by two consecutive set losses, the Pirates climbed back into the game, forcing a fifth with the Owls. Ventura capped off the miraculous comeback in a back-and-forth fifth set and made the season opener one to remember.
Pirates coach Mandy Arnold-Rodriguez believed that this game showed a young team, which features two sophomores, much more than their team’s strong cohesiveness.
“[The] biggest thing it showed them was to not give up,” Arnold-Rodriguez said. “We just have a lot of players that play at a high level with a lot of heart.”
Freshman middle blocker Kayla Phipps had a simple answer for her team’s ability to play with a lot of heart.
“We came together [as a team],” she said. “We focused on getting everything together.”
The Pirates hope to play like champions once again when they face Western State Conference rival Long Beach City College at home Sept. 4.
