The beginning of a busy week did not go in Marin's favor on Wednesday. The Mariners had back to back matches at the West Valley Classic. They faced the host team West Valley beginning at 1pm and followed it with a match against Santa Rosa Junior College at 3pm. The results were a 3-0 loss to West Valley followed by a 3-1 loss to Santa Rosa.
The Mariners started their day with a competitive first set against West Valley in which they fell 25-20. The second set was less compelling as they dropped it 25-13, before rallying for an entertaining final set that went the way of West Valley 25-17.
Setter Emma Harris led the way for the Mariners against West Valley as she compiled a full stat sheet with 15 assists, an ace, four kills and six digs. Alejandra Leon had 11 digs and four kills while Alexa Honsberger chipped in 12 digs of her own.
The match against Santa Rosa started less than an hour after the conclusion of the West Valley match. While the Mariners were gassed from their earlier exertions they battled the Bear Cubs mightily. The first set went to Santa Rosa 25-15 but the remainder of the match was highly competitive.
The Mariners pushed Santa Rosa to the brink in the second but lost again 25-22. The third went in favor of the Mariners 25-20, before the fourth and decisive fourth set went to Santa Rosa 25-20.
Alejandra Leon had a double double for the Mariners with 13 kills and 21 digs. Setter Sarah Harris had 17 digs and 38 assists. Salomi Galodamu had an impressive showing with nine kills, seven digs and three blocks.
Coach Lisa Gera on the Santa Rosa match, "We continue to improve each match. The players are building trust amongst each other and continue to fine tune the little things. As long as we continue to stick with the process, give maximum effort and leave everything on the court, I am satisfied. Playing tough opponents in the preseason will prepare us physically and mentally for our conference opponents."
Wednesday's double header was just the beginning of a busy week as the Mariners face Sierra College in the first round of a tournament that begins Friday, September 8th.