UKIAH – The Mendocino College Eagles Volleyball team dropped their Bay Valley Conference opener to the defending BVC champion Solano College Falcons Wednesday night by the scores of 30-19, 32-30, and 30-24.

The visiting Falcons were led by their diminutive sophomore setter Lovella Asuncion, who ran the Solano offense and riddled the Eagles’ defense with her effective jump serve.

Although it was a three-set sweep, the Eagles and the Falcons battled back and forth in a hard-fought match which could have gone either way.

“We were right in the thick of it all night and I kept waiting for us to break out take each of these games,” said Mendocino College Head Coach Ori Polkinghorne. “We are a young team and sometimes it shows, these are the kind of matches I expect us to win as the season goes on – we had a chance to take Solano tonight.”

Mendocino was powered by their sophomore middle hitter Jamie Brown (Potter Valley) who put down 10 kills and hit .429 for the match.

“They really couldn’t stop her tonight, Jamie continues to inspire us with her leadership on and off the court,” Polkinghorne said.

Other notable performances by the Mendocino crew were Freshman Jenn Cox (Upper Lake) who recorded seven kills, three digs and two aces.

Freshman defensive specialist Marcie Brendlen (Anderson Valley) had seven digs and one ace.

Sophomore libero Sarah Luetke (Yreka) anchored the Eagle defense with 12 digs.

Mendocino plays another home match this Friday at 6:30 p.m. against Contra Costa.

{mos_sb_discuss:2}