Eagles 5-0 at net in GVC

By Reggie Stiteler
Published: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 5:41 PM CDT
Mt. Shasta News

Siskiyous won two out of three matches in a busy week at the net and on the road.

After taking care business sweeping aside would-be challengers Redwoods last Wednesday and Butte last Friday, improving their league record to 5-0, the Eagles found a tough non-conference opponent in West Valley Saturday who reminded Siskiyous what games can be like outside of the Golden Valley.

“It was not a good passing day against West Valley,” Eagles coach Tom Power said. “We were not clicking on all cylinders.”

In what Powers called Jennifer Mendenhall's best match of the season, Siskiyous took the first game 30-27. Mendenhall converted 9 of 10 kills with two blocks in game one. “She came up big for us.”

But the next two games West Valley took control winning 30-20 and 30-27 stealing a 2-1 match lead.

Siskiyous still had a legitimate chance at triumph. Looking simply to force a game five, the girls chipped away at 10-4 and 14-7 game four deficits to possess a 29-26 game-point lead.

“Then we lost five straight points,” Powers recalls. “We couldn't finish it off.”

Mendenhall finished the four game match with 22 kills on 29 attempts with ten blocks, four in the final game.

Now at the mid-point in conference play after three matches in five days, Siskiyous (17-3 overall) have time to relax a bit and hit the practice court which they have not had much time to do of late with the busy road schedule.

This Friday it is back to business for the Eagles as they travel to Feather River and then next Wednesday, Oct. 31 the girls head to Susanville to take on Lassen. Both teams the Eagles defeated on their home court earlier this month.