Day Two of the Lee College Volleyball Invitational ended with an identical record for the Cougars as the first day. The path to that record, however was dramatically different than Friday's Action.
VERNON COLLEGE
In their first match of the day, the Cougars proved that their first win of the season over Vernon was no fluke, sweeping that Chaparrals in a hard fought 28-26, 25-23, 25-20 battle. CBC had to battle back each set, especially the first and third sets when they started each with 0-4 deficit. Each time Vernon would take a lead or build momentum, the Cougars would claw their way back. Once the set scores got in the 20's the Cougars found their comfort zone, while Vernon struggled looking for a way to put the Cougars down. They never found it.
A bevy of freshman did the heavy lifting for the Cougars, with Cameron Del Angel pounding down 11 kills, while Karizma Matelski and Sammantha Santos getting eight and six respectively. Santos also picked up two block solo's, but that paled to Emma Batte, who was playing in her home town, as swatted away four Vernon attempts. Defensively, Alyssa Hutcheron corralled 25 Vernon shots, while Cierra Hernandez and Santos scooped up 20 and 11 respectively.
#6 PANOLA COLLEGE
The schedule was unkind to the Cougars. They were supposed to play back-to-back matches Saturday afternoon. The problem came when the matches were on two different courts. The Vernon match scheduled for 3:00 pm, didn't begin until 3:45. The Cougars had to hustle next door to take on a fresh and rested Fillie squad from sixth ranked Panola College. The Cougars showed plenty of resolve, battling the Fillies with every play of the ball. In the end, Panola proved that they are among the nations elite winning 25-18, 25-14, 25-12.
CBC made sure that every member of the roster played versus Panola. Sophomore Lindsay Garibay led the team with six kills, while Batte again was big at the net collecting another four block solos. Hernandez led the team with 16 digs, while Hutcherson got her hands on eight Fillie balls.
For their stellar play throughout the weekend, freshman Samantha Santos - Setter; and Alyssa Hutcherson - Libero were named to the All-Tournament team. It is Santo's second all-tournament selection this season. Hutcherson's defense has her ranked third in NJCAA Division I in Digs Per Set and Total Digs. Coastal Bend College as a team is currently leads the nation in Total Digs, and is second in Digs Per Set.