Oxford and Brethren Christian began the game with some exciting rallying, neither of them achieving a stable lead. After an intense spike from Brethren, Oxford won back the serve and gave Sophomore Alyssa Ancheta the opportunity to take the lead with an ace, making the score 8-7. On the next serve, Brethren Christian attacked with a kill making the score 8-8. Both teams were willing to fight back and show off good techniques. After the Warriors gained a two point lead, the Patriots fought back with some impressive setting and serving. Junior Vianca Morales tipped the ball narrowing the deficit to 1, 9-10. A wide kill attempt from Brethren soon tied the game at 10-10. With a series of kills and an ace, Brethren Christian took a three point lead 10-13. A couple of missed hits and serves from both teams brought the score to 13-16 keeping the deficit at 3. With the enthusiasm to take the lead, Oxford sent over a kill attempt that caused Brethren to dive and miss the ball. As the Lady Patriots were catching up, the Warriors strengthened their plays and quickly moved the game closer to their victory. The score was now 16-21 and the Patriots continued fighting back with effective teamwork. After a series of rallying, Oxford spiked the ball out of bounds, increasing the deficit to 8, 16-24. Brethren Christian ended the first game with a kill, 16-25.

The Lady Patriots started out strong in the second game. Even though the first point was Brethren’s due to a failed serve, Sophomore Rochelle Paz dove to save a kill attempt and Oxford relayed to ball back over for the point, making the score 2-1. After a couple of missed kills from the Patriots, the score turned to 3-5, putting Oxford in a deficit. With renewed energy from the first game, the Lady Patriots gained a point on an out of bounds serve from Brethren. Oxford continued catching up when Senior Alexis Medina served an ace, tying the score at 5-5. Medina continued pushing the game forward with several successful serves giving the Patriots a three point lead, 8-5. The warriors quickly gained back the three points with stronger kills while Oxford struggled to maintain the lead. Nonetheless, the Patriots continued fighting back. Junior Celina Vicuna tried to stop a driven ball from the opponent with a dive but the results of her efforts only tied the score 11-11. Both teams showed they would not let the other take a significant lead. Morales served an ace finally giving the Lady Patriots a lead 14-13. Soon after, Brethren served out of bounds, increasing Oxford’s lead to 16-14. A missed serve and kill attempt from the Patriots brought the Warriors to tie the game 17-17. After an lengthy rally, the referee called out an Oxford point because a Brethren player touched the net trying to block a kill attempt, 18-17. The point to point exchange continued, 20-20. Ancheta soon set the Patriots towards victory as she spiked the ball near the foul line, gaining a 1 point lead, 21-20. After a couple of Ancheta’s aces, the Patriots gained a 4 point lead, making it clear that a win was in sight. Finally, Brethren bumped the ball out of bounds ending the second game 25-20.

Oxford did not start the third game as successfully as the second one. The score was soon 1-7 after Brethren showed off several fierce kills and serves. Medina offered some thrilling serves and aces during Oxford’s next possession, thinning the deficit to 4, 4-8. Throughout the game, the team showed excellent communication and outstanding effort but Brethren would only match and improve their efforts. Morales tried stopping a sharp kill but this only resulted in another Brethren point, 4-12. An ace from the Warriors gave the Patriots a deficit of 8 to face in their next set, 8-16. Morales once again served an ace narrowing the deficit to 6, 11-17. The deficit remained 6 as the game progressed with a point by each team, 12-18. Senior Lani Ancheta served with expected success, almost tying the score, 14-18. The Lady Patriots still had a chance and expressed their enthusiasm with high energy. Brethren rallied back with two more points with well-practiced technique, 14-20. Later in the game, the score being 16-23, Vicuna narrowed the deficit with her serves and quickly turned the score 18-23. With only two more points for a victory, Brethren served out of bounds, intensifying the game, 19-24. Ancheta narrowed the deficit after serving with aces 21-24. On the final serve, Medina swiftly dove to keep the ball in play. Unfortunately, OA bumped the ball out of bounds ending the third game, 21-25.

Lani Ancheta started serving the fourth game with excellence, giving Oxford the lead 4-0. The Patriots maintained the 4 point lead after some exciting rallying. With a couple fine serves, Senior Sophia Lee increased the lead to 7-1. Moments of miscommunication caused the Warriors to catch up to make the score 7-6. Oxford remained competitive by placing their kills near the boundary line 11-8. A fast paced kill caused Alyssa Ancheta and Vianca Morales to collide on a save attempt, 11-10. After the warriors served with aces and fought with kills the deficit was 5 for Oxford, 12-17. The Lady patriots tried to recover by returning their aggressive kills and spiking back 14-19, but the deficit remained 5 as the Warriors got closer to 25. Oxford fought hard but it did not seem to be enough to retake the lead, 14-23. On the second to last serve, with an exciting rallying, Senior Vivian Martin performed some vital blocks against Brethren’s front line. A missed ball ended the last game 14-25.

Although the girls lost the last game with a wide deficit, they did show they could play tough. With some outstanding serves, they fought back, most of the time narrowing the deficit and keeping the game exciting and the score close. With support from the baseball team, the girls will keep up the good effort and enhance their playing ability.