After a 13-2 start, the Hawks have dropped three straight — all three against teams ranked in California.
The Hawks have lost nine straight sets for the first time since losing 11 straight sets between October and November in 2023.
Las Positas returns after a five-game road trip, hoping to get back right again. Can the offensive duo of Ainsley Wade and Madelyn Huddleston get the team back on track before?
Their first loss came on Oct. 8 at Ohlone. At the time, Ohlone was 11-11. But the Renegades dominated the first two sets. But Las Positas made them work in the final set, rallying before falling 30-28 in the third-and-final set. Ohlone’s season is on an upward trend, going 8-2 in their last ten matches and now ranked No. 14 in NorCal.
A week later, the Hawks took on a Cabrillo team sitting atop the competitive Coast Conference-North. The Seahawks ranked No. 6 in NorCal and No. 17 in California. Their might showed in a 3-0 sweep of Las Positas. The Hawks nearly took the second set and changed the entire tenor of the game. The second set was tied at 23 with the visitors serving. But Cabrillo pulled it out then cruised to the third-set win. Las Positas lost 25-15, 25-23, 25-14.
Monterey Peninsula, ranked No. 20 in California and No. 7 in NorCal, proved just as daunting two days later on Oct. 17. The Hawks were outplayed in the first two sets — 25-19, 25-18 – before coming alive in the third. But they couldn’t stop Monterey Peninsula’s Kalya Smith, who converted 18 of her 22 kill attempts. The Hawks dropped the third set 25-22.
The Hawks close October with three of four games at home.
***
TOP PHOTO: Women’s volleyball has lost nine straight sets for the first time in more than a year. (Photo by Alan Lewis/Special to The Express)
Carson Pfotenhauer is a staff writer for The Express.
