After dropping the first game to Buhach Colony on Wednesday night, the Merced High girls volleyball realized their energy level wasn’t where it needed to be. That’s where captains Gabriella Randol and Nadalyn Moua come in.

 

When Bears coach Chittawat Her feels his team needs to pick up the energy level he’ll give a look to his captains and they know what to do. The message was received against the Thunder as Merced rebounded to win the final three games to secure a 20-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-22 victory in a key Central California Conference match that helped the Bears improve to 12-7 overall and 4-0 in the CCC.

 

It’s the best start for Merced in over two decades and sets up a big match on Monday at home with five-time CCC champions El Capitan coming to Vince Clemons Court with first place on the line. “It’s crazy,” said sophomore Kasalyn Moua on Merced’s 4-0 start in the CCC. “We’ve never done this. We’ve been playing with confidence but we’re not putting ourselves up there yet. We’re excited but we know we’re going to get challenged.”

 

Her feels the Bears’ nonconference schedule has helped prepare his team for the CCC. “I think that our preseason definitely got us ready because we took a lot of (losses) against some big teams,” he said. “We had to try to block some girls who were six-feet tall. We played a lot of matches that went four and five games.”

 

The Bears seized momentum after the first game against Buhach Colony (2-2 CCC) and never relinquished it. Junior outside hitter Kinley Czirban paced the Bears offense with 10 kills and Synshyne Mendez played well at the net with eight blocks. Nadalyn Moua finished with 10 digs and 24 assists and Aliyah Solis led the defense with 14 digs.

 

Kasalyn Moua says the Bears’ coming out in the second game focused and with more energy definitely turned the match around. “It just helps us play with more momentum,” she said. “It gets us more involved in the game and that helps us communicate better.”

 

The Bears used a 5-0 run midway through the second game to open up a 20-16 lead and they were able to close out the game to tie the match at 1-1. The Bears used a 6-0 run to extend their lead to 15-7 in the third game and won comfortably. Buhach Colony fought hard in the final game, but Merced was able to stay consistent throughout to earn the victory.

 

Next up is a big challenge against El Capitan, which comes in 21-7 overall and also 4-0 in the CCC.

 

“Monday’s game is an even bigger game,” Her said. “Our girls have been looking forward to playing against El Cap.”

 

El Capitan 3, Los Banos 0 – Madison Miller and Ellie Iniguez both finished with 10 kills as the Gauchos swept the Tigers 25-16, 25-11, 25-17. Anushka Elwin added 25 assists for El Capitan.

 

Golden Valley 3, Atwater 0 – The Cougars defeated the Falcons 25-9, 25-23, 25-18 to even their CCC record at 2-2. Freshman Tessa Zimmerman led the Cougars with 10 kills. Gizzel Jordan added three aces and 17 digs.

 

Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.