Rustlers unable to hang with Santa Monica

Even with a late surge, Golden West was unable to comeback against Santa Monica losing 3-1 (25-22, 18-25, 25-22, 25-21) at home.

Golden West (3-2) came out on the losing end of what was a hard-fought match where the Rustlers were victims of multiple Santa Monica (2-2) scoring streaks. Initially, it looked like Golden West was going to make a repeat performance of last week's 3-1 victory over Moorpark. Moorpark won the first set, but Golden West regrouped and won the next 3 sets en route to victory. Unfortunately, that would not be the case this time around.

The Rustlers trailed numerous times throughout the match, including a 21-14 deficit in the fourth set. Despite this, Golden West never gave up and closed the gap to three points. But the hole had been dug too deep to get out of and Santa Monica sealed the victory.

Head Coach Kasey Harwell praised the Corsairs for a job well done, "Santa Monica is a good team with lots of potential to make it to the state tournament. They played excellent in sets 3 and 4, and outside hitter Keats Stanley was too much for us to handle."

Golden West fought hard and it showed with some noteworthy individual performances. Jared Chasse and Lalau Togagae both recorded double-digit kills, 12 and 10 respectively. Bert Peyton was a force at the net with 9 kills and led with 5 blocks. Libero Jarrett Neal went all out in the back court leading with 21 digs and made some spectacular dig saves that eventually lead to points. Kevin Gorence kept Santa Monica honest leading the team with 3 service aces.

Coach Harwell remains optimistic going forward in spite of the loss, "Our guys are getting closer to following the system. I like the energy we possess, and our commitment to getting better is stronger than ever."

Golden West will be at home Wednesday, Feb. 19 to take on L.A. Pierce a 6 p.m.