The Madera South Stallions looked to pick up its first win of the season in a non-conference match with the Firebaugh Eagles.
However, the Stallions couldn’t get out of their own way in a three-set loss Tuesday at Madera South.
After the match, the Stallions lost three players, including their starting setter.
The Eagles put down 18 kills, but the Stallions countered with 15, led by Maria Hernandez with six.
What hurt the Stallions were mistakes. They hit 15 balls out of bounds, had another 11 balls fall on their own end with mistakes, and missed 12 serves.
Hernandez tried to help the Stallions with eight aces.
Firebaugh had nine missed serves, and 16 hitting errors opposed to Madera South’s 33 hitting errors.
Two Firebaugh kills, and ace and two errors gave Firebaugh a 5-1 first set lead.
Hernandez put down a kill, and served up six straight points with an ace and a kill by Brianna Vasquez. Seraphim Peralta, recently called up from the junior varsity, put down her first three varsity kills to help Madera South take an 8-6 lead.
The Eagles tied the set with an ace and two kills, and took an 18-15 lead.
A Firebaugh missed serve led to a five-point run for a 21-18 Stallions’ lead. Hernandez served up three aces for the lead.
Firebaugh got a side out on a hit out of bounds, and two more Madera South mistakes led to three points, and a tie game.
A Stallion’s missed serve led to two more Firebaugh points (with two more Madera South mistakes), and a 24-22 lead. The Eagles missed their serve, but another Madera South missed serve gave the Eagles a 25-23 win.
In the second set, two more Hernandez aces gave Madera South an early 5-4 lead. Firebaugh tied the set at six, and then scored three points off Madera South mistakes for a 9-6 lead.
Firebaugh put down a side out kill, and two mistakes gave the Eagles a 15-9 lead.
Hernandez stopped the run with a kill and Angelina Alejo served up an ace to cut the lead to 15-12.
A Firebaugh ace opened the lead to 20-15, but the Stallions missed another serve. The Eagles served up two aces in the final five points to record a 25-17 lead.
The Stallions opened the third set with an early lead after a Dallas Chavira kill.
Then, Firebaugh scored the next 13 points. In the run, the Eagles put down two kills and served up two aces. The other nine points came on Stallion mistakes, including three hits out of bounds.
A Stallions’ side out kill led to an Alejo ace. Hernandez served up two more aces to cut the lead to 14-7.
The Stallions cut the lead to 15-10, but the Eagles scored three straight points for a 20-12 lead. A Stallions’ missed serve led to a Firebaugh ace and a kill for a 25-13 win.