The Homer Mariners scored a win during the conference match against the Seward Seahawks last weekend with final scores of 25-19, 25-18, 18-25, 24-26, 15-8. Head Coach Beth Trowbridge was proud of the confidence the Lady M’s demonstrated in their play.
“We beat Seward at the Grace Tournament the weekend before, so the girls went into the conference match more confident than they have been previously,” said Trowbridge. “As we have improved over the season, we have developed better ball handling skills which has helped us cut down on unforced errors and we have had enough game experiences that we know we can ‘get back in their groove’ and play well even when we have periods of poor play.”
The Mariners dominated the play in the first two games, but fell behind during game three because of hitting and serving errors. Game four was a close match, but Seward scored the win.
“In game five we came out with the same intensity as in the first two games and focused on winning and dominated the offense as well as the defense,” said Trowbridge. “They struggled in game three and then again in the beginning of game four they worked really hard to increase their communication on the court and pull themselves together and it worked. They almost won the fourth game and then took the fifth game easily. I was very proud of them.”
Zoia Basargin had the team high of 14 kills, followed by Tayla Cabana with four kills. Kyla Pitzman led in blocking with three solo blocks and two block assists. Maggie Koplin led the team in back-row defense with 30 digs and excellent serve-receive passing. Basargin had 18 digs and Larsen Fellows had 14 digs.
Trowbridge says communication on the court is a key aspect to success.
“It is easy to communicate when things are going well, but harder when mistakes are being made. Yet, a lack of communication leads to more mistakes.” she said. “They are really figuring that out now and the leadership on the court has been getting better and better and they are working very well together.”
Trowbridge says the team will continue to fine-tune their defensive coverage and work on blocking.
Homer has a weekend of home games, rematching Seward on Thursday. The team will honor their seniors on Friday after the Anchorage Christian School match and will take on Grace Christian School on Saturday.
Shannon Reid is a freelance writer who lives in Homer.
