Vista falls to Grizzlies in four sets

Vista del Lago's varsity girls' volleyball team traveled to Granite Bay on Wednesday for a non-league match and it was a competitive one which Granite Bay won in four sets, 21-25, 25-16, 25-22, and 26-24. The Eagles should have won the fourth set, as they led 24-21 and were serving for the match, but served it into the net before the Grizzlies won the next three points to take the match in four sets. The loss dropped the Eagles record to 1-3 on the season. "The girls have been improving and they have the ability to play with these teams and we should have taken this one to five, but I don't feel we have the tenacity that we need to have at this point," Vista del Lago coach Cinnamon DaSilva said. "We need to be excited for every point. That is the passion we need to fuel the effort that we have to have on the court and that just wasn't there tonight." With the win, Granite Bay evened its record at 6-6. "We played well, but we're working to play better and it's coming together," Granite Bay coach Dawid Pawlik said. "We're happy with today. We've been experimenting a lot, but we're starting to come together and starting to play how we want to." The Eagles fell behind early in the first game, 9-3, but rallied back to take a 13-11 lead and held the led the rest of the game, winning it 25-21. Madelyn Shaw and Avery Moore led the Eagles with three kills in the set, while Lily Smith had two kills, two blocks and an ace. The Grizzlies came back and won the next three sets. They were led predominately by Alli Powell and Lainey Arnold. Powell had 13 kills, four blocks and one ace, while Arnold contributed 11 kills and five aces. Haddy Samba added six kills and two blocks, while Elle Cales had six kills and one block. "We're working on a lot of things; obviously hitting, passing and setting, but we're working on it to the specifics of my coaching style so the girls have to adapt and adjust to understand what I want from them," Pawlik said. "It's going in the direction that I want and we keep getting better and better." Smith led the Eagles with 17 kills, while Moore had nine, and Shaw had seven. Avery Pettus led the Eagles with three blocks. "Every player is contributing in their role and improving," DaSilva said. "We still have a little bit of inconsistency between match to match and game to game, and we're trying to figure that out so we can get into a rhythm." Vista's next match is at home Thursday against Whitney, while Granite Bay plays host to Oak Ridge on Monday.