Sierra Linda's first win against the McClintock Cougars Tuesday gave the Bulldogs a boost going into Thursday's match against winless Copper Canyon.

“The girls got more confident.  They fought hard and worked hard to get that win and they finally did,” said head coach Edith Garcia. 

 

But victory eluded the Bulldogs (1-5) in a four-set loss to the Aztecs (1-6). “Anyone is a good competitor.  I told my girls just because we beat Copper Canyon last year doesn’t mean we are going to this year, so you have to be on top of your game and ready to play,” said Garcia.

The Aztecs took the first two sets but Sierra Linda came back and won the third set, 25-21.

Senior Breanna LaBombard helped her team strike back with powerful serves.  The jump server also finished the game with four kills and one block. 

LaBombard said it was intense during the final two serves of the set. “I was feeling nervous because you don’t want to let your team down and the crowd was going wild,” said LaBombard. 

Lombard stepped up Thursday. “I can testify that our serves were not great against McClintock, but after practice on Wednesday I feel like we all improved,” said the senior.

 Although LaBombard’s serving came in clutch in the third set, the skill was not there in the fourth set when it was needed.  “In the fourth set, we were getting frustrated with ourselves and rushing everything a little too much.”

The Aztecs had clean passes and communication on the court and won the fourth set 25-17.  The final score for the match was 1-3. “The Aztecs were good competitors, we kept going back-and-forth and overall it was a really competitive game.”

The Bulldogs face the La Joya Lobos at Sierra Linda Tuesday at 6 p.m.