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The Pierce High volleyball team heeded the time-honored adage "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen" Tuesday, but the Lady Bears' case, it was more like "If you don't like the heat, get out of the gymnasium."

The Bears and visiting Williams High both took the steamy court in Arbuckle for their first volleyball games of the season, with Pierce playing well enough to make a quick three-game exit with wins of 25-12, 25-11, 25-23.

The Bears were able to pass the ball and take advantage of some Williams miscues in the first game, taking a lead at 3-2 they held for the remainder of the game.

Yasmin Garcia, the top server on the evening for either team with 14 points, found the floor for one of her four aces, and joined Sara Nunez in sending down a kill each to build an 11-4 lead and momentum.

The advantage swelled to 20-7, before the Bears took Game 1 on a 'Jackets serving error.

Pierce led for the entirety of the second game, building a 7-2 lead with a kill by Trisha Abele, who dropped back-to-back aces across the net as well.

Ali Ornbaun also sent a pair of serves to the land of no return, sharing the team-lead with Garcia, and Molly Geyer scored the winner with one of her team-leading eight kills.

The third game was messy on both sides of the net, as Williams took its first lead at 4-3 and eventually built it to a four-point advantage.

Pierce played their way back in, with Ornbaun's other two aces wrestling the lead back from Williams at 11-10.

The score was even at 17-17, before the Lady Bears were able to finish off the sweep.

One of the skills coach Kim Travis mentioned as being a strength of her squad was not in evidence in the first match, as Pierce committed 13 service errors.

"Our serving was weak," the coach admitted. "We were able to execute plays off of good passes."

Travis was also able to get the entire roster involved in the match.

"I was able to get my whole bench in, and everyone did their part," she said. "Our communication was fair. They had a few little lapses, but that could be due to having different bodies on the floor."

Statistics were not available for the Yellowjackets, as the team was wearing old jerseys while waiting for new ones to arrive, and a roster with the old numbers matched up with names was not available.

Pierce (1-0) is in action in the weekend's tournament in Hamilton City, and treks to East Nicolaus on Tuesday.

Williams (0-1) hosted Princeton Friday, and plays at Elk Creek on Tuesday.