San Marcos put up a good fight, but it didn’t have enough offensive punch to beat Ventura in the Channel League girls volleyball opener on Thursday.
The Cougars took the match, 25-11, 25-27, 25-12, 25-15.
“We were really prepared and did what we needed to do,” San Marcos coach Erica Downing said. “(Ventura) just outplayed us, but we worked harder.”
Jaimie Mayner had a big night for the Royals (2-3, 0-1) with 15 kills and a .500 hitting average. Libero Emma Campbell scrambled for 15 digs and passed well.
“The score doesn’t show our work ethic,” Downing said. “I’m proud how scrappy they were and didn’t give up. We were diving for balls. We were all over the place.”
Downing said it was fun coaching against college classmate Jared Godinez. The two of them played volleyball at UCSB at the same time, Godinez for men’s coach Ken Preston and Downing (then Erica Menzel) for Kathy Gregory’s women’s team.
