Cuesta Women's Volleyball battled Moorpark in three close sets, but eventually lost to the match with 17th-ranked Raiders in three.  Both teams came into the match with similar records, Cuesta at 10-5 and Moorpark at 10-4, but the Raiders ability to close strong in each set made the difference.  In the first set, Moorpark jumped out to a commanding lead, 15-8, only to have the Cougars tie them at 19-19 and reach set-point at 24-21.  The Raiders rallied to tie the set at 24 and survived another set point at 25-24 by ripping off three points to take the opener, 27-25.  Moorpark kept the momentum in the second set and were cruising to a second win, 21-14, when Cuesta raced back.  The Cougars scored six of the next nine points and shrugged off a trio of set-points before falling, 25-20.  In the final set, Moorpark took advantage of another slow Cuesta start to take a six-point lead midway through the set, however the Cougars rallied to 22-20 before stalling in another 25-20 loss to end the match.  Returning Freshman Outside Hitter Christelle Mouret (Morro Bay HS) led the Cougars on both offense and defense with 13 kills and 13 digs, while Opposite Hitter Whitney Thompson (Arroyo Grande HS) did her part with eight kills and three blocks.  The Cougars fall to 10-6 on the year and 2-3 and 4^th place in the Western State Conference standings, behind three Top 20 teams in the elite-WSC.

The Cougars have a WSC-bye next Wednesday and return to open the second round of WSC play at #8 Santa Barbara on October 22 (6 PM).  The Spikers are not back home until Wednesday, October 27, to face #18 Ventura (5 PM) for "Sophomore Night".  The match will also be doubleheader with Cuesta Wrestling.  The Grapplers host West Hills-Lemoore at 7 PM.