RedHawks survive Yellowjackets' sting

There isn't any quit in the Williams High varsity volleyball team, but Colusa proved to be too strong on Thursday.

After losing the first two games against the RedHawks, the Yellowjackets swarmed back to win the third before Colusa finally put them away in a Mid-Valley League showdown in Colusa.

The RedHawks won 25-13, 25-10, 19-25, 25-17 in another competitive match against a smaller, quicker Williams team which pushed them to five games on Oct. 4.

Williams began the match looking over-matched and out-gunned, but loosened up in the third game and turned the tables on Colusa.

"Every time we play happy and our mood is up we start playing better," Williams senior Noemi Ibarra said.

Ibarra, who led the Yellowjackets with five kills and a block, had a block and a kill early in the third game as Williams built on an early lead.

Josiany Madrigal began the game with seven consecutive service points, including two aces, before Colusa made a late push to close the gap from 13 to six points.

Colusa's Mattie Myers and Emily Mobley rallied the RedHawks after the Yellowjackets took a 23-10 lead in Game 3.

Mobley slammed down 22 kills, made four blocks and served six aces throughout the entire match, including seven kills and two aces in the third game.

"The thing that helps us win is talking, so when we don't talk, that's when games like Game 3 happen. We just need to talk all the time and we'll be fine," Mobley said.

Williams took an early 2-0 lead in Game 4 on a kill by Mayra Ramos, who had four aces and three kills for the Yellowjackets, before Mobley tied it with back-to-back kills.

From that point on, Myers took over with her serving.

"Our serves I feel were a lot harder, and were aimed at an actual spot, and we took our aggression out from losing the third game," Myers said.

Myers, who served a match-high 11 aces, sent four aces over the net and by the time Madrigal bumped the ball over the net into an empty spot on the court for a side out, Colusa had an 8-3 lead.

The RedHawks (16-11, 7-1 MVL) extend their lead the rest of the way to seal the victory and set up a showdown with Maxwell (13-2, 8-0 MVL) on Tuesday with league title implications.

The RedHawks' only league loss was in five games to the Panthers on Oct. 9 in Maxwell, but this time the game takes place in Colusa.

"The good thing is it's our court, our crowd so we have the advantage. I feel like it's a big mental game because they are a county rival and their crowd got into our head and we made a bunch of mental mistakes," Myers said.

Teale Stacey added eight kills and three aces for Colusa. Devin McKee, Yasmin Moreno and Brittanee Garcia each served four aces.

Madrigal played a solid all-around game for Williams with four kills and four aces. Ramos added four aces and three kills, Lizeth Rivera made three kills, and Carolina Mendiola added two aces and a kill.

Williams (3-10, 0-7 MVL) travels to Biggs (1-18, 0-6 MVL) on Tuesday.

CONTACT Kirk Barron at 458-2121 or kbarron@tcnpress.com.