(Walnut, CA) The Mt. SAC Beach Volleyball team won its first South Conference match, 3-2, over the visiting College of the Desert on Friday (March 25) at "Mountie Beach" on the Walnut campus.
With the win, the Mounties improved to 6-7 overall and 1-3 in the conference.
"We were on a little bit of a losing streak," Mt. SAC Beach Volleyball coach Danielle Diaz said. "So, hopefully, this is a good confidence booster to get us back on track.
"It's that positive self-talk that everyone needs to use a little more. It's super easy to be defeated, when (the opponent) has that type of lead."
Diaz was referring to the comeback, second-set win by the 3's for the match win.
Tied in sets, 2-2, the match came down to the 3's pair of JJ Quarrels/Diana Pelcastre for the win.
After the pair went to extra points and opened the set with a 23-21 win, they came back with another thriller, much to the delight of the Mountie supporters, and won, 22-20.
In the first set, Quarrels hit a deep shot for the 22-21 lead and Pelcastre did the same for the win.
With the Mounties trailing by five points in the second set, 20-17, the pair reeled off five of the final six points for the win.
"The coaches call us the comeback kids," Quarrels said. "We've come back a lot and get it done basically. We worked on it a lot all week, getting more short shots, deep shots. I think we executed very well in this game."
Tied 19-19, COD took its only lead late in the set after a long rally, as they found the back corner for the 20-19 lead.
Quarrels poked over the next shot to tie it at 20-20, followed by another poke over the net by Pelcastre for the 21-20 lead.
Pelcastre then ended the match with a booming ace down the middle to the back of the court.
"It's super easy to go back there and be timid give an easy serve or you can get back there and rip one, and she went back and ripped it confidently for the huge point."
Prior to the final set, Diaz and assistant coach Samantha Neely told the pair of the importance of that match.
"It's just not about us, it's about the team to get the team win," Pelcastre added. "Coaches came up to us and said, 'we need you guys to get this team win.'
"We don't come into matches expecting to lose and that's when I hit the ace for the win."
The 2's (Riannel Arevalo/Bristol Christelman) opened the match with a two-set win (21-12, 21-17) to give Mt. SAC a 2-0 lead.
The Mounties had a 1-0 lead before the match started, as COD would forfeit the 5's match.
The next two matches were tough, three-set losses that went the distance.
The 1's team of Riley DeGroot/Allison Whiteman lost the first set, 14-21, but came back to tie it with a second-set win, 21-16. They fell in the third set, 15-7 and COD took the win to trail in the match, 2-1.
The Roadrunners evened the match, 2-2, with another three-set win over the Mt. SAC 4's, Alicia Patterson/Savanna Corrales.
The Mounties took the opening set with an easy, 21-11 win, but lost the next two, 21-19 and 15-11.
Then it all came down to the 3's, who came away with the win for the match.
Mt. SAC will travel South on Wednesday (March 30) and will play three matches against Mt. San Jacinto, host San Diego Mesa, and Grossmont.
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For additional information, please contact the Mt. SAC Sports Information Office at 909.274.4630.