LOWER LAKE >> Pierce High School had an easy time … a much too easy time … beating the Lower Lake Trojans in a non-league varsity volleyball match on Tuesday night in Lower Lake.
“We made a whole bunch of silly and ridiculous mistakes,” Lower Lake coach Darcie Schmidt said of the Trojans’ sub-standard performance. “All those mistakes added up to kill us.”
Pierce’s 25-13, 25-16, 25-13 victory dropped Lower Lake to 1-3 on the season and with a tough match looming on Thursday against St. Vincent in Petaluma, Schmidt said the Trojans have a lot of work to do before their tough North Central League I schedule opens Sept. 22 at Kelseyville High School.
All elements of Lower Lake’s game have suffered through spells of bad play, according to Schmidt.
“It starts off with passing,” she said. “We have capable hitters and setters, but we’re doing far too much hitting from the back row. You can’t have that.”
Lower Lake’s kills total against Pierce reflected the trouble the Trojans had getting the ball into the hands of their hitters. Ashlynn Mock and Brooke Taliaferro led the team with just four kills apiece. Mock also had three aces.
“It started off bad and we just couldn’t hold it together,” Schmidt said. “We just did not play a very good game. We certainly didn’t play our ‘A’ game.”
Lower Lake’s junior varsity squad also struggled against its Arbuckle opponent, falling 25-18, 25-16.
After playing St. Vincent in Petaluma on Thursday (5 p.m. JV start), the Trojans are off until the following Thursday when they host Calistoga.
