Mesa Men’s Volleyball lost to Palomar on March 20, but they won a small victory out of it–they won their first match of the season. They had to fight a little hard for it, but in the end, it still went right.
The first two sets of volleyball were more or less the story of Mesa’s season–they kept coming up short. The first set was a hard-fought affair, but the Comets pulled ahead 25-16.
Cue the second set. Palomar got into a 3-0 lead, which became 5-2 after the ball hit their side of the net. Mesa played catch-up the whole time; after the score became 13-3 Palomar, they pulled out some excellent serving of their own, when they managed to make the score 13-4, then later 13-6 and 14-7. Mesa would make it 21-15, then 21-16, but eventually the Comets pulled just out of reach for good.
Now, onto the third and final set. The score was a mirror image of the last set, with Mesa leading 5-2, but it didn’t last too long as Palomar pulled within 5-4. This became the pattern that developed as Mesa would pull out by three points, but the guests would bring it back to one, eventually the match was knotted up at 20 apiece, and Mesa was just a few well-placed plays from winning their first set of the season. First, they put it into the Palomar side of the court, and it hit the floor–21-20. Then, another serve went around, and out of bounds–22-20. With anticipation in the gym building, it went around, but then Palomar knocked it through–22-21. Mesa, though, made the score 23-21 and then 24-21, and then finally, they pulled it out 25-21.
Mesa’s embattled volleyball team, despite winning their first set of the season, has not seen that translate into anything significant. That Friday, they took to the road to play crosstown rival Grossmont and lost, 3-2. It started off when Mesa won two sets, and could have won, but then they collapsed against the Griffins, proving that if something looks too good to be true, it probably is.
The rematch against Grossmont, this time in Mesa’s gymnasium, would come on Wednesday, April 10, and once again Mesa came up short.
The story of each set was largely the same: The visitors taking a short lead, Mesa clawing their way back into it, then Grossmont pulling far out of reach.
Set 1: Grossmont comes out guns blazing to take a 5-1 lead. Mesa gets into it to make the score 5-2, but the Griffins keep pulling it out even further. After a flurry of defense, Grossmont goes into double digit points. Grossmont was nearing 20 points when Mesa stepped up their game to get to 11 points, and scored a few more to make it 23-13, but by then Grossmont’s lead was too much to overcome.
Set 2: Same thing. Grossmont got on the board first, then Mesa made a few key serves to get on the board. Both sides traded serves going into their own net, and the pattern largely held of Mesa getting back into the game, but then Grossmont pulling ahead, and Mesa never recovering.
The third and final set was a little different: Mesa managed to knot things up with some excellent serving and defense at five points apiece and had a chance, but if something seems too good to be true, it probably is, and this was no exception.
The long and short of this is that men’s volleyball went the entire season without winning a single game and only a meager four sets.
