Lady Vikes Fall to Yakima Valley in Straight Sets

After a tough loss to Columbia Basin College, the Big Bend Lady Vikes faced another challenge on Friday, October 4th, as they hosted the Yakima Valley Yaks. Set one was a tightly contested back-and-forth battle, with BBCC flinching first, allowing Yakima to take the set by a narrow 25-23 margin. Unfortunately, the first set set the tone for the rest of the match, as the Lady Vikes struggled to find their rhythm, dropping the next two sets by scores of 25-16 and 25-19.

The loss marked six straight sets dropped for BBCC, dating back to their previous match against CBC. Hailey Buehner led the Viking offense with 12 kills and a solid .333 hitting efficiency, along with recording 1 ace. Emma Lucas did her best to facilitate the offense, dishing out 22 assists in the loss. Head Coach Alexa Moser had this to say regarding the loss.

"Set 1 was very competitive. There was a lot of good volleyball, it was fun to watch. But we just couldn't find a way to finish it. After a competitive first set, I was confident in our play going into set 2 but we just looked lost out on the court. We dropped 7 straight points and that just can't happen. There's no way you can win games like that. Set 3, we found a way to turn it around again and had a very competitive, back and forth battle but just lost our fight at the end of the set."

Moser also highlighted the ramifications of the loss by stating.

"Another frustrating loss, Yakima is also a very good team, and again, when you play top tier teams, the little mistakes are amplified. It just shows that if we want to be a competitive team in the East, that's the caliber we have to play at. We definitely have moments of it, but need to find a way to be more consistent at that level."

Although the result was not what they had hoped for, BBCC did their best in preparation for the Yaks as Moser walked us through the scouting report prior to the match.

"A short turnaround from our match-up against CBC but we had a very similar game plan with Yakima. They also have two very strong outside hitters and so to not see that translation from our game Wednesday to practice Thursday, to our game tonight, it's very frustrating. We knew who their best hitters were and how fast and in system of an offense they ran but we just couldn't keep up. Our defense was outstanding tonight, but defense can only keep you in rallies for so long, we need more than just one hitter who can put a ball away and we need to find a way to get more touches at the net so we're not only relying on our defense in the backrow."

The Lady Vikes hit the road as they travel to Wenatchee Valley College to take on the Knights this upcoming Wednesday. As always, keep up with the Vikings on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, as well as through the NWACSports Network's livestream video platform, where available.