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Turlock volley soars to first league win with dominant performance
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Katie Parker and Ella Bernard share a high-five following a point during their impressive victory over Modesto on Tuesday night (ANGELINA MARTIN/The Journal).

The Turlock High varsity volleyball team earned their first league win Tuesday night with a straight sets sweep of Modesto High.

After falling to Enochs 3-1 last Thursday, the Bulldogs bounced back against the Panthers during their second Central California Athletic League match for a dominant 3-0 victory, which saw them allow no more than 15 points during the game.

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Turlock libero Alexia Longacre serves during the Bulldogs’ victory over Modesto High on Tuesday (ANGELINA MARTIN/The Journal).

“They took what we talked about after that loss — controlling our side of the net, minimizing our errors — and they served really well tonight, which was a problem for us last Thursday,” Turlock head coach Amber Lugo said. “They did what they were asked tonight.”

Turlock won the first set 25-11 and closed out the final points with two straight kills by Katie Parker, who finished the night with a team-leading eight kills overall. The second set saw the Bulldogs hold nothing back and featured a stretch of 18 straight points, resulting in a 25-4 win. The Panthers never scored more than twice in a row during the third set, which Turlock took 24-15.

“We’ve said all season that we just have to work on us, so we’ll just keep doing that and getting better,” Lugo said. “Everybody played really well and that’s probably my proudest thing from tonight, that they did that together.”

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Abby Mensonides awaits the serve during the Turlock High volleyball game on Tuesday (ANGELINA MARTIN/The Journal).

Behind Parker in kills were Ella Spalding with five and Lauren Parker with four; Abby Cogburn collected three herself while Ashley Pannell and Ella Bernard each had one apiece. Lauren Parker also won 21 points while serving and had 12 aces on the night. Alexia Longacre led the team in digs with 10 and Bernard recorded 15 assists.

“It’s a sigh of relief,” Lugo said of getting their first league win out of the way. “Their confidence was shaken last week, so now they feel better. We went over the game plan and they stuck to it.”

Turlock High is now 10-8 on the season and 1-1 in CCAL play. On Thursday they’ll play Downey High at home at 7 p.m.