The Laguna Blanca girls volleyball team turned up the heat late against Carpinteria on Thursday, shutting down the Warriors in the final game en route to a 25-17, 23-25, 25-22, 25-9 season-opening victory.
Senior Jackie Harvey recorded a match-high 18 kills for the Owls and Jessie Ditmore added nine to go with five blocks. Anna Dwyer came through with 10 digs as defensive specialist.
Carpinteria’s Kelci Jones did it all for the Warriors, leading the team with 12 kills, 11 digs and three aces. Junior Jenny Annable stepped into the starting setters spot and handed out 23 assists.
The match was close for the first three games but Neal Scarborough’s eight-point run at the service line in the fourth set shut down the Warriors.
“Mentally we went kaput,” said Carpinteria head coach Katie Dolge of the final frame, blaming too many unforced errors for their downfall.
“Other than that, I was really happy with our first match of the season,” Dolge said. Carpinteria has a chance right away to cut down on its errors when it hosts San Marcos on Friday and at the Laguna Blanca Tournament on Saturday.
Laguna has a similar schedule, facing Brethren Christian on Friday before hosting its own tournament on Saturday.
