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Tracy High’s Paige Bittner (left) takes her shot as West High’s Analisa Green and Tiana Franks team up for the block attempt during their crosstown match up. Glenn Moore/Tracy Press
West’s varsity team took a 3-0 win against Tracy, 25-22, 25-12, 25-20, to bring West’s pre-league record, not including tournaments, to 4-1, and put Tracy at 1-3 this year.
Cheering sections on both sides of the Swenson Gym pumped up the energy level as teams rallied to keep the ball in play against each others’ best shots.
“We brought a lot of determination to the game,” West senior Charae McConnell said. “We all wanted to try really hard, especially the seniors. It’s our last Tracy-West game.”
She added that the team made sure it was prepared for this matchup, with just two weeks to go before teams go into league play, and has improved its blocks and serves since the start of the season.
“We fixed a lot of things that were wrong before.”
West coach Pete Mullen added that his players passed the ball well on Thursday, which is one improvement that makes West competitive this year.
“Our passing kept us in the game,” he said.
Tracy coach Mahina Tankersley said her team responded well to the pressure of a cross-town match at home, especially when the Lady Bulldogs came back at West in the third set.
“The girls came out really excited and really pumped up. They needed to focus their energy on doing positive things,” she said. “They never ever once gave up. They’re fighters and I’m proud of them for that.”
West showed the potential to dominate the matchup in the first set when Anise Abraham came to the service line to score four aces and enabled the Wolf Pack run an 11-7 score up to 19-7.
Tracy responded when Stephanie Silva came up to serve for seven points in a row, and the Lady Bulldogs also relied on blocks at the net from Lynsie Zellmer to get on the scoreboard. Tracy’s Erika Gasior also served for a string of points, but passing mistakes early on had already cost the Lady Bulldogs and they came up short of closing the gap.
The second set belonged to West from the start. Passing mistakes again cost Tracy while West defended its side with Abraham and Analisa Green blocking at the net.
Tracy kept the third set close, again with Zellmer and Paige Bittner at the net to protect against West’s shots. West kept the ball in play against Tracy’s blocks and kill attempts and held on for the win.
Mullen said one of his teams advantages is that West has an even distribution of talent and ability.
“We don’t have one player that dominates in anything. We’ve been balanced all year,” he said. Abraham led her team with seven aces and six kills. Tiana Franks and McConnell had five kills each, and Briana Smith and McConnell were at the core of West’s passing game.
Tracy’s leaders were Emily Barwig with six kills, Gasior and Silva with four aces each, and Zellmer with five blocks at the net.
Tracy’s sophomores took a 2-1 win, and made a comeback after the first set for scores of 19-25, 25-15, 15-13. West’s win in the first set was sparked by a string of aces at the end from Ashley Tornio and kills from Ashley Smith. Tracy made its comeback in the second set on aces from Emily Anchartechahar, and took the early lead in the third set with aces from Shannon Carey and kills from Robin Somogyi and Jenny Barwig.
West’s freshmen won their matchup 2-1, with Tracy taking a 25-16 win, and West edging out Tracy wins of 25-23, 15-13.
Contact Bob Brownne at 830-4227 or brownne@tracypress.com.
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