Just ask La Salle, which bounced back from four-game loss in its league opener to defeat St. Joseph in straight sets on Tuesday, Sept. 15.It wasn’t easy, but the Lancers battled hard against St. Joseph, coming away with a 25-20, 25-19, 25-20 win in their league home opener.La Salle, which hasn’t lost at Duffy Lewis Gymnasium yet this season, moves to 12-7 overall and is 1-1 in league play.“The Del Rey [league] can go to anybody. I don't know if there's a dominant team in the league. I think everyone's a...
Just ask La Salle, which bounced back from four-game loss in its league opener to defeat St. Joseph in straight sets on Tuesday, Sept. 15.
It wasn’t easy, but the Lancers battled hard against St. Joseph, coming away with a 25-20, 25-19, 25-20 win in their league home opener.
La Salle, which hasn’t lost at Duffy Lewis Gymnasium yet this season, moves to 12-7 overall and is 1-1 in league play.
“The Del Rey [league] can go to anybody. I don't know if there's a dominant team in the league. I think everyone's a little bit equal, and it depends on the day, and it depends on who shows up,” La Salle coach Tiare Tuitama said. “Even today, we were missing one of our starting middles and we had our other girls come in and they shined.”
The Lancers fell behind by as many as four points in the opening set. Down 21-19, La Salle had a five-point rally to eventually take the lead. Behind the strong play of senior Camila Beltre, La Salle stormed back and took a 22-21 lead when Beltre’s kill was blocked into the scorers table. St. Joseph wasn’t able to find its groove back as the Lancers captured the first set 25-22.
Beltre finished with a team-high 22 kills with nine of them coming in the opening set.
Riding the momentum, La Salle battled with the Jesters until they took a 14-13 lead in the second set. The Lancers went on a 8-2 run to take a 21-15 lead and it looked like they would run away with the set. St. Joseph didn’t go down quietly, but the Lancers held firm to take the set 25-19.
Despite taking a commanding 2-0 lead heading into the third set, La Salle sophomore Charli Ramsey said her team’s mindset did not change as they looked to complete the sweep.
“Let's just get this win,” Ramsey explained. “Definitely wanted to go in confident, not cocky. We didn't want to play loose. We still wanted to play with that same heart. We came in with the same amount of passion that we did the first two sets, and we were like, just 'go, go, go.' Don't step off the gas.
From nearly start to finish, La Salle kept its foot on the pedal. The Lancers sprang out to a 12-6 lead following back-to-back three point rallies and never looked back. La Salle led by as many as eight points before the Jesters started closing in. St. Joseph went on a 7-2 run to make it as close as four points, but was unable to complete the comeback.
Although the scoreboard says it was a sweeping victory for the Lancers, Tuitama is happy that her team is competing against quality opponents on a weekly basis in league play.
“The Del Rey League is definitely different from what the girls have been in, at least the last two years. There was a point where in the other league, our bench was getting more playing time than our starters because of that. So I'm super happy to be in a competitive league,” Tuitama said.