Rivalry was in the air as fans lined up to give the Dos Pueblos and San Marcos volleyball teams high fives before their crosstown match on Tuesday night at the Thunderhut.
When it was over Dos Pueblos was celebrating a sweep over the host Royals 26-24, 25-15, 25-18.
Dos Pueblos (4-1 in league) came out strong, with Sierra Hofstetter serving to put the Chargers ahead 5-2.
The momentum began to swing toward San Marcos (1-4) as Kristen Berlo put down a kill in the middle of the court, making it 16-14. Two consecutive passing errors on the DP side tied the score at 16-16.
From then on, it was a battle at the net.
DP’s Sarah McKinny got a block to tie the score at 21-21. San Marcos built a two-point lead at 24-22 before Taylor Racich answered back with a cross-court kill. A net violation against the Royals brought the score back to a tie at 24-24.
Taylor Racich ended the set with a kill.
“Our passing broke down a little bit, so we just had to make the adjustment,” said DP coach Todd Garrett of the first-set struggles.
“Game one could of gone either way, it just goes to experience,” said coach San Marcos Erica Menzel. “You can’t teach experience.”
The Chargers immediately took the lead in the second set and never looked back. Amanda Moriarty gave DP the winning kill from the back row.
Rolling into the third set, Taylor Racich gave the Chargers another big lead, serving from 7-6 to 12-6. Lina Kleinschmidt ended the match with a slide that dropped in the corner.
“Our middles really stepped up tonight, Sarah McKinny hit .800 and Lina Kleinschmidt hit .545,” said Garrett.
DP setters Tristan Racich and Maddie Leipardt, had 19 and 17 assists, respectively. Taylor Racich contributed 14 kills and 5 aces; Moriarty gave the Chargers 10 kills and five digs and Kleinschmidt added 6 kills and 6 aces. Katie Spieler had 9 digs.
Berlo had 15 kills and 9 blocks to pace the Royals’ attack, while teammate Jordan Corry contributed 17 digs from the back row.
Dos Pueblos will head to San Diego this Friday to play in the California Challenge while San Marcos travels to play Ventura on Thursday.
