The Warriors celebrate their victory after match point. (Presidio Sports Photos)
Miranda Marquez was dynamite for Carpinteria on Tuesday night, leading the Warriors to a 25-23, 22-25, 25-23, 29-27 non-league victory over rival Bishop Diego in the Brickhouse.
The Cardinals fought off four match points and had one game point to force a fifth set, but Marquez was there to record her 23rd kill of the game to clinch the Warriors victory.
“She was really leading the team mentally and physically all the way through,” Warriors head coach Dino Garcia said of Marquez.
Marquez is small for her position but has tremendous leaping ability and arm strength. She showed off plenty of power but her final kill was all touch, falling untouched in the heart of the Bishop Diego defense.
Bishop Diego’s Tiana Maloney takes a swing from the middle on Tuesday as Carpinteria’s Corina Porter goes up for the block.
“We didn’t have an answer for her. That little girl really made a difference in the game,” said Cardinals head coach John Sener.
Marquez was everywhere, adding 12 digs to her 23 kills and supplying a blocking presence at the net. Middle blocker Gabby Rigonati tallied eight kills and five blocks.
Garcia liked what he saw from his Warriors, playing in just their second match of the season.
“My girls were firing on all cylinders. They weren’t holding back at all. They were really swinging for the win and I think they deserve it,” Garcia said.
Garcia also noted Monique’s Sanchez’s 15 digs and setter Katie McGee’s vocal leadership as being big contributors to the win. McGee collected 28 assists.
The Cardinals were undefeated coming into the match having most recently won the Santa Paula Tournament championship. Bishop is heading into its Tri-Valley League opener on Thursday at St. Bonaventure.
“This was not the same team that played at the tournament on Saturday,” Sener said. “Maybe they were a little nervous due to the fact, home game, Carp.”
Summer Soto piled up 38 digs for the Cardinals. Sener blamed too many hitting errors for weighting down the Cardinals. Adriana Kowblansky was the only Cardinal with a positive hitting percentage.
“They had less mistakes than we did,” Sener said.
Summer Soto gets one of her game-high 38 digs.
