Falcons open league play with win
Girls beat Escondido Cougars
The Torrey Pines Lady Falcons (7-3,1-0) girls volleyball team opened Avocado League play on Oct. 7 with a victory over the Escondido Lady Cougars (11-7,0-1) by the scores of 25-11, 25-17, 22-25, and 25-14.
This is the first year Torrey Pines has played in the Avocado League; they previously called the Palomar League home.
Even though Torrey Pines won the match fairly easily, Head Coach Jim Harrah had mixed emotions.
“I thought we could beat them in three games,” he said. “We played everyone and they did a good job when they were in the game. We let up in the third game. But, some of our starters seemed to lose some of their focus during the match.”
Some of that loss of focus could be contributed to an upcoming Oct. 21 match against longtime rival La Costa Canyon at the Lady Mavericks’ gym. The Lady Falcons remain undefeated against San Diego County opponents and La Costa Canyon has yet to suffer a loss. LCC is also ranked No. 1 in the United States according to a recent poll.
Game one against Escondido started off with Lady Falcon Belinda Kraemer serving three straight points. Later University of Colorado-bound Kerra “Boo” Schroeder reeled off four straight service points, and coupled with teammate Alexa Armstrong’s strong kill, Torrey Pines’ lead was upped to 13-6. The lead stretched to 17-7 with Lacey Fuller’s three-straight service points and a monster kill from Lexi Campbell. Sophomore Mary Harrah, the coach’s daughter, served six straight points, and ended the game with a service ace.
Again Torrey Pines started strong in the second game jumping out to a 12-8 lead, with an exclamation point kill by Katie Dutchman. They stretched the lead to 19-13 on another Armstrong kill. Lady Cougar Krystle Osby’s kill stopped Torrey Pines’ run at 22-15, but the Lady Falcons prevailed on Elizabeth Campbell’s ace serve for the game point.
Game three is where Torrey Pines seemed to loss some of its focus. Jumping out to a 3-0 lead via Lady Falcon Belinda Kraemer’s three straight service points, Escondido chipped away and tied the score at 10-10. Then there were six ties and seven lead changes until the Lady Cougars finally led at 17-16. Courtney Brewer served five straight points for Escondido and pushed her team’s lead to 22-17. Torrey Pines scored three straight points to close the gap to one, but Escondido scored the final three points, with game point coming on Mariel Sena’s service ace.
With momentum shifting to the Lady Cougars, the team jumped out to a 5-1 lead with two strong blocks by Brewer and her twin sister Lindsey. But, Lady Falcon Katie Dutchman served seven straight points and her team grabbed the lead at 9-5. The lead increased to 15-7 with Jenny Woolway’s five straight service points and a kill by Campbell increased the lead to double digits at 18-8. Game and match point came when the Lady Cougars ball went out of bounds during a rally.
Leading the way for the Lady Falcons was Kerra Schroeder in a strong performance, with 12 kills, 17 digs, two blocks and six service points with two aces. Katie Dutchman added 10 kills, and nine service points including one ace.