Mustangs sweep their way to second round

By Scott Linesburgh

STOCKTON — Delta volleyball coach Molly Mordaunt knew what she wanted to see from her team in the first round of the postseason. And she saw more than enough to make her happy.

The fourth-seeded Mustangs played well, worked through a few rough spots and swept No. 13 Lassen 25-10, 25-19, 25-14 in the Northern California Regionals Tuesday at Delta's Marcopulos Gym. Delta advances to the second round and will host No. 5 Foothill at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. On Tuesday, Foothill beat No. 12 Santa Rosa 25-13, 22-25, 25-17, 25-2.

The Mustangs (21-2) needed 1 hour, 10 minutes to take care of the Cougars (17-9), who made the 4-hour drive from Susanville.

"I'm proud of my girls, I thought they played really well," said Mordaunt, in her fourth season as Delta's coach. "They held their composure when things got tight and battled through it as a group."

The Mustangs dominated Lassen in the first game, quickly building a 9-1 lead, and never really were challenged.

"W knew we had to bring a lot of energy to the court to stay up on them," Delta freshman Cassidy Caton said. "We had to stay on them and keep fighting.

The Cougars were much tougher to handle in the second game. Their hitting improved and Delta's passing faltered a bit. At one point, Lassen held a 14-11 lead, but the Mustangs corrected their errors and slowly took control.

Senior outside hitter Kaitlin Drake, who led Delta with 13 kills, 13 digs and two blocks, said teams have to learn to adjust in order to succeed.

"Volleyball is a game of mistakes. It's all about how you handle it," Drake said. "I felt like we went in tonight really strong minded. In that second game we fell a little, but we did what we needed to do."

Lassen coach Amy Williamson said this was Lassen's first playoff berth. She would have liked the experience to last longer, and thought her team did its best.

"I was pretty pleased with the match," Williamson said. "Delta plays in a very tough conference, and we don't play in as tough a conference (Golden Valley). So I thought we needed to catch up to their speed. Ther are a very good team."

Caton had nine kills and 15 digs for the Mustangs, Ashleigh Nedstrom had eight kills, three blocks and three digs and Kirstin Kielhold had four blocks, two aces, 14 digs and 32 assists.

http://www.recordnet.com/article/20141126/SPORTS/141129700/101102/A_SPORTS

photo by CLIFFORD OTO/THE RECORD