As the defending league champion, San Marcos is finding out that opponents are bringing their best game against it.
Ventura did Tuesday night and took down the Royals in five sets, 25-21, 21-25, 25-21, 26-28, 15-11, in a Channel League match at the Thunderhut. It was the second straight loss for the Royals (4-2, 1-2), who play league unbeaten Santa Barbara on Thursday.
“We are struggling right now to find our best lineup,” San Marcos coach Erica Downing said. “We have not had a player step up to take a leadership role yet. Emily Allen played in her first game last night and brought consistency to our team. Having her back allows us to try some other lineups. We are going to back to the drawing board, and we are going to have to battle from here on out.”
Katy Henchy pounded 21 kills and served four aces to lead the Cougars (11-7, 1-2), and Armonee Hunter added 15 kills.
Middle Carly Yarnell had 13 kills and Hannah Harrah added 10 for San Marcos.
Downing said a five-set loss is tough on everyone, “but we know Channel League is tough all the time. Any game we play, people are going to play great against us because we’re the Channel League champs. We have to know that we’re the team to come after and that everyone wants to beat us.”
