With their best all-around player home sick, the Carpinteria Warriors still battled to five games before losing at Malibu 25-20, 23-25, 26-24, 22-25, 15-11 Wednesday.
The loss narrowed the Warriors’ playoff chances to ultra-slim, but coach Katie Dolge said that the girls responded despite the absence of senior setter Hannah Denitz.
“They came out with a lot of fire,” said Dolge. “Unfortunately there were just too many times when Malibu got on a run or we lost our steam, but I was happy.”
Monique Enamorado stepped in at the setter spot and dished out 35 assists with eight digs and four kills, while Kelci Jones had 11 kills and five aces.
Middle blocker Janine Van Wingerden added seven kills and a pair of blocks.
The Warriors host Oaks Christian on Thursday night at 6 p.m.
