CYPRESS, CA - No. 7 Cypress volleyball fell to No. 10 Santa Monica in the second round of the 3C2A SoCal Regionals (25-15, 25-21, 25-23, 25-21, 17-15).
The Chargers hosted the Santa Monica Corsairs on Tuesday evening for the second round of the 3C2A SoCal Regionals. Both teams bypassed the first round of the regionals bracket and met each other for the first time of the season.
Cypress got off to a slow start with two sets down in the match. The Chargers were in a win or go home situation headed into the third set as Zoe Ziegler struck down the kill that brought the team back, 4-4. The Corsairs fought back and pushed the lead, 15-9. Cypress battled for a comeback when they scored five in-a-row for the draw at 20-20. Shayna Martinez found a sweet spot on the other end to take the lead for the Chargers. The Corsairs tied up the set 23-23, but the Chargers refused to be swept and won the set, 25-23.
The battled continued in the fourth set with back-and-forth points. It was until Hailey Church for Cypress, served an ace that changed the momentum for the team. The Chargers gained their largest lead of the night at four points until the Corsairs tied up the set 19-19. Cypress poured their energy out onto the court to not let the Corsairs take the lead and continued to stack kills. Church set up Rose Whitter for the set point and the Chargers forced set five, 25-21.
In the final set of the match, the Chargers took control early on with a 10-1 lead. However, the Corsairs capitalized off of the home team's mistakes and brought the game back at 13-13. Whitter on Cypress did everything she could to keep the Chargers in the game with back-to-back kills, but the Corsairs took the victory from an attack error by Cypress (17-15).
SEASON OVERVIEW: The Chargers finished 19-7 overall, 11-5 in the OEC, and hosted the second round of playoffs as the No. 7 seed. Cypress only lost twice on home court and had twelve sweeps on the season. The Orange Empire Conference named four student-athletes to the All-Conference team: Shayna Martinez (First Team), Rose Whitter (First Team), Ashlyn Riddle (Second Team), and Zoe Ziegler (Second Team).
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