COD Women’s Volleyball overpowers the Coyotes in a sweep, 3-0

COD (7-8; 4-1) made quick work of what was expected to be a much more competitive match-up between similar lineups, as the Roadrunners chased away the Cerro Coso Coyotes of Ridgecrest (4-10; 2-3), 3-0 (25-11, 25-18, 25-20).

In a game which had the executives from Warner Bros. and Looney Tunes excited, the Roadrunners did not need a special delivery from Acme Corporation to take down the wily Coyotes from Ridgecrest.

Since 1977, Desert has an 28-5 all-time record versus the Coyotes, with a 16-3 record in the Coachella Valley. The Roadrunners winning streak over Cerro Coso extends all the way to 1997.

Desert would get this match going early as the Coyotes seemed to be hampered by only traveling with seven players and the nearly three-and-a-half-hour drive to the Coachella Valley. Within moments, Cerro Coso had committed two service errors and freshman opposite Lila Cowdell (Herriman, UT) had one of her three service aces on the night, building a 6-1 lead.

The Coyotes would fight back with a brief 3-0 run then Desert dropped an 8-0 run on Cerro Coso like an Acme sized anvil. The run bolstered by three service aces from freshman outside hitter Kaila Sandy (La Quinta H.S.), building a 14-4 lead and forcing the Coyotes to call their first time out. The Roadrunners would eventually secure the win in the first set, 25-11.

Set two was far more competitive, as Desert found themselves in a fight. Both teams would trade off scoring runs, as the game was tied at 4-4, 7-7, 13-13, 14-14 and 17-17. When Desert built a 20-18 lead, the Roadrunners called a time out and recalibrated, pushing through the next five straight points to win the match, 25-18.

As the game went on, the Coyotes got stronger and Desert had to play catch-up, but the Roadrunners were up for the challenge. Desert would build a sizable lead, 6-2 at one point and then the game got tight, too tight. The Coyotes would catch the Roadrunners at 7-7 and at 8-8, but an ace serve by freshman setter Kianna Diaz (Palm Desert H.S.) would get Desert back on track.

Later in the match, an ace serve by freshman outside hitter Yesenia Ramirez would force Cerro Coso to call a time out, with the Roadrunners holding onto a 14-9 lead.

At the end of the match, a controversial call led to the officials calling for a point to be replayed, in which sophomore libero Dakota Hansen (Myrtle Beach, SC) responded with back-to-back ace serves to close out the sweep.

Hansen would lead the team with 13 digs and had 2 service aces and Diaz would lead the team with 30 set assists, grabbing 6 digs and 2 kills.Sandy would lead the team with 13 kills, collecting 5 service aces, 1 block assist and 11 digs and freshman outside hitter Yesenia Ramirez (Indio Shadow Hills) had 7 kills and 9 digs.

Cowdell had 9 digs, 3 kills and 3 service aces and freshman middle blocker Katie Alexander (Yucca Valley H.S.) led the team with 1 solo block and had 3 kills.

Freshman middle blocker Caitlin Bilhartz (Bowling Green, MO) had 3 kills and 1 block assist.

The Roadrunners are home for the next two matches, beginning with October 27th versus the San Bernardino Valley Wolverines. College of the Desert is 31-28 all-time against the Wolverines, but the Roadrunners have not lost to San Bernardino Valley since October 9, 2013. Out of the last 14 match winning streak, Desert has a very positive 42-4 set record over the Wolverines.

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Information, Story & Photo provided by COD Sports Information.