Avenging a loss is always sweet and that was the case in Monday’s league showdown between Turlock and Modesto High volleyball when the Bulldogs played hosts to the Panthers and beat them, 3-1 (21-25, 29-27, 25-19 and 25-16).
“Our girls are proving themselves, they can compete with anybody,” said Turlock head coach Amber Lugo. “When we played at their place we lost in five and it was close. Felt good to get this. Time and experience honestly were the difference.”
Prior to the game, Turlock was coming off four straight losses in this past Saturday’s Notre Dame Belmont Tiger Challenge.
Three of their four losses came at the hands of teams ranked in the top 102 in California.
“We didn’t do well in this past weekend tournament but we had great competition and helped us move forward from a week ago,” said Lugo.
The loss for Modesto High was only the second in league and their fifth in 30 games.
Turlock improves to 5-3 in CCAL and are currently in third and 11-14 overall.
“Top three go (to playoffs), so we’re in third and looking to keep that or improve on it,” said Lugo.
Monday’s game was a good opportunity for Turlock to stay in the hunt for a postseason berth, but a win was crucial against second-place Modesto High which had beaten them back on Sept. 19, 3-2.
Modesto won the first set, 25-21, but that proved to be the only victory for the Panthers who were then blanketed.
“First set was just adjusting and getting back into a rhythm because we had a tourney without Sarah and changed the rotation and getting back in sync and each set they got stronger and better and working better together,” said Lugo.
The Bulldogs came out in the second set and after a high-scoring, back and forth affair, Turlock won it 29-27.
The third saw Turlock win it by six before pulling off the most lopsided win in the fourth, 25-16.
“The second one was close, but it came down to the wire,” said Lugo. “I had no subs left so if I had to rotate it would have been very interesting. But they held it together and fought it out and I am proud of them because that is the challenge, getting that big game going and finishing.”
Turlock’s Jazmyn Tubbs had 18 kills, Mary Padilla added 17 and Ava Chiesa tallied 12 kills. Padilla (4) and Tubbs (3) combined for seven aces.
Audrey Tillery added three blocks and Sarah Romo finished with a team-high 34 assists. Chiesa added 35 digs and Tubbs finished with 30 digs.
“Combination of everyone but Audrey made some key blocks that pushed us over the edge,” Lugo added.
Turlock’s next game will be at home against Downey at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
