Continued success may not be a surprise for Chloe Goldman and the 2012 Anzar volleyball team, but the squad’s early-season winning ways kept rolling Tuesday, with a come-from-behind 3-1 victory over King City.
The Hawks again used a plethora of hitters in their offensive attack, as sisters Delaney McKinney and Raleigh McKinney both led the team with 18 kills.
The victory improves the Hawks overall record to 15-4 and 4-1 inside the Mission Trail Athletic League.
“It means a lot to us,” Raleigh McKinney said. “We really want to get to CCS and they are a good team. It was a big win for us. It was a good outcome tonight.”
It didn’t always seem like it would be a victory for the Hawks, who couldn’t find an offensive rhythm throughout the match. Starting in the opening set, Anzar kept falling behind, but made small streaks to come back and win.
Anzar and King City traded points until the Mustangs scored four points in a row to build a 16-12 lead. After falling behind, Delaney McKinney took control of the set’s tempo.
The Anzar senior dominated in front of net in the first set, blocking a pair of kills and killing three-straight shots to pull Anzar closer. She sparked an eventual 10-0 run for Anzar, on its way to a 25-19 win.
“We tend to do that,” Goldman said. “I always tell them that when you play good teams like that you can’t let them get a lead but somehow they allowed them to get a lead. But we always find a way to come back. I just tell them to stay focused. And when they are behind to take it a point at a time.”
The strategy worked multiple times for Anzar during the match. In all four sets, Anzar fell behind before making set-ending run.
After losing the second set 25-20, Anzar ran out to a 5-2 lead thanks to the strong play of the McKinney sisters and Mail Gonzalez, who played strong defense throughout the match.
Monica Medina, who finished with 43 assists, was strong as the setter, giving Anzar the chance to score often. Eight Hawks finished with at least one kill thinks to Medina’s distribution of the ball.
“I think we have really good ball control this year,” Raleigh McKinney said. “We lost a big hitter, but we are making up for that with our ball control. We are just doing it really well.”
Despite the strong passing, the third set remained close between the two teams. Anzar recieved the first opportunity to close the set with a 24-23 lead, but King City kept putting pressure on the Hawk big killers. After a short rally, the Mustangs tied the game at 25-25 when a pair of Hawks couldn’t handle a kill.
Delaney McKinney won the set 28-26 for the Hawks when she blocked a King City shot and killed a ball on back-to-back plays.
“They were just focused,” Goldman said. “That’s why we won.”
The final set was more of the same for both teams, as Anzar got off to an early lead before King City rallied for a late 24-23 lead. In the closing moments, though, Anzar forced a pair of ball-handling mistakes from the Mustangs to score the final three points and win 26-24.
“I think we did really well just not crumbling,” Goldman said. “The turnover we had this past weekend. We had a lot of close games and we kind of crumbed a bit. Today, I think we came out and played. We finished the sets. I think it was good that we finished it out.”
The Hawks league season continues Thursday when they traveled to Carmel.
