Seesaw battle goes Rustlers’ way
In what was a hard-fought match, Golden West was able to sweep Long Beach City 25-18, 25-15, 25-21 at home.
Huntington Beach, Calif. - Even though Golden West (2-0) was able to pull off a sweep, the Rustlers had to fight hard and keep its composure in each set to come out on top. Long Beach City (0-3) had the advantage early in the first set until Golden West tied the score at 10. With Andrea Gonzalez at the service line, the Rustlers would go on a 5-0 run thanks in part to 2 of her aces. The Vikings did push back a little, but the Rustlers were able to seal a convincing 25-18 win.
Golden West had the advantage in the second set and led by 5 at the half way point. The Rustlers caught fire thanks to Ashley Pettibone's 3 kills in a row and solid play by Gabi Nguyen to jump out to a 20-12 lead. It was smooth sailing from there and Golden West cruised to a 25-12 win.
Pettibone saw limited action from that point on and finished the night with 6 kills and provided 8 digs defensively. Nguyen once again stood out as the offensive leader with 9 kills. She also supplied 9 digs and 2 aces proving to be a complete player in Golden West's winning effort. Libero Kelynn Mullally was able to keep the Vikings at bay with a match leading 11 digs.
Long Beach City gained momentum early in the third set and kept it going for the most part with stellar play from its core of 6-footers Shawna Byrd and Chanel Brown. Fortunately, the Rustlers never trailed by more than 3 points and tied the score at 17, 18 and 19. From there, Daisy Gonzalez heated up from the middle producing 3 kills in the final stretch of points to preserve a 25-21 win and the sweep.
Golden West will play a double header this Friday. The first match will be against San Diego City at 11 a.m. and the second will be against Moorpark at 2 p.m.