San Marcos senior Josie Gamberdella elevated high above the net and attacked a Dos Pueblos overpass with a powerful spike straight down to the floor that gave the Royals a commanding two-sets-to-one lead.
The moment of greatness was indicative of a close match that swung in San Marcos’ favor at key moments as the Royals claimed 27-29, 26-24, 25-21, 25-22 on Thursday night at Sovine Gym.
“When we played against DP at our place, that wasn’t really DP. They didn’t show up, and we beat them pretty handily,” said San Marcos coach Dwayne Hauschild. “That wasn’t the team they really are, and we saw that tonight. They jumped us on early and we had to come back.
“It’s a testament to these girls’ resilience to be able to push through and battle back point for point until we get to these victories.”
The Chargers came into the match with a focus on starting strong and finishing strong, and that’s what they did in set one as they jumped out to a big lead and held on through extra points to take an early lead.
“This week, we had a big focus on we’ve got to start hot from the beginning,” said Dos Pueblos coach Megan O’Carroll. “I think a lot of that translated tonight. The girls came out loud and excited and had a lot of energy. We were able to squeak out that first set, which felt good morale-wise.”
In set two, Dos Pueblos took an 8-4 lead after a block by Emma Polunets, but San Marcos began to chip away and took a 14-13 lead on an ace serve by Avery Leck that forced a Dos Pueblos timeout.
The Chargers reached set point at, 24-22, after a San Marcos hitting error, but the Royals closed the set with four straight points capped off by a Jordan Schmoller kill to avoid a two-set deficit.
The Royals were clinging to a 22-21 lead in set three until a closing burst extended their lead. A kill by Schmoller extended the lead to 23-21, and Charlotte Hasting followed with an ace serve to put San Marcos in front 24-21. That’s when Gamberdella delivered her statement spike that gave the Royals a 2-1 set lead.
A Halle Rillie kill put Dos Pueblos ahead 8-2 in set four, but, as was the case throughout the match, San Marcos responded. Another ace by Hastings cut the Royals’ deficit to 10-5. A Grace Stone kill closed the San Marcos deficit to 17-16.
It appeared the Royals would run away with the set after an Elena Thomas kill extended their lead to 22-18, but a solo block by Polunets cut the Dos Pueblos deficit to 22-21.
Thomas went on to clinch the fourth set and the match for San Marcos with a powerful spike down the line.
San Marcos was led offensively by Hasting and Thomas, who finished with 15 and 11 kills, respectively. Cora Loomer finished with five kills and eight blocks. Gamberdella chipped in seven kills while providing excellent setting.
Jaden Jones and Addison Low both finished with 13 kills to lead Dos Pueblos.
With the victory, San Marcos improves to 8-0 in Channel League play. Dos Pueblos dropped to 5-3.