Venice Volleyball Sweeps Toughest League Opponent

Venice was able to sweep their toughest competition 3-0, on Tuesday, and they now have a stranglehold on the league.

Just one month ago, Venice barely beat Palisades High in five sets, but they have been improving. 

"We really pushed ourselves harder in practice and I think we are a lot stronger team now then we were a month ago," freshman Darrin Rice said after the game.

Coach Allen Hunt added, "We played really well today. We had a great rhythm throughout, and I feel like for the most part, our service receiving was very good."

As they have been known to do, the Gondoliers shot out to a quick 10-1 lead in the first set.  Venice dominated throughout most of the first set, not letting Palisades get within five points of them.  Towards the end of the set, Palisades High won 11 of 12 points, but Venice finally broke through and clinched the set 25-20. 

"I think that we got comfortable with our lead and we really need to work on getting that killer instinct. They were almost able to make us pay," Rice said.

It was the same story in the second set.  Venice burst out to another big lead at 9-2, but Palisades was able to close the gap to within three points several times.  Senior Katie Mercado helped protect the Gondoliers, notching four of her eight kills in the second set, often times stopping runs made by Palisades.

Hunt really like what he saw from Mercado. "I think she played really great today.  It was our strategy to attack the middle when their rotation was weak in that spot, and Katie was able to hit the spot a bunch throughout the match," Hunt said.

Still, Palisades was able to battle back, tying the score at 20-20. After winning a point, Venice handed the ball to Rice, and she was able to close out the set with four of her big jump serves, closing the set out 25-20.

"I was so proud that I was able to make the serve on game point because I usually miss the serve on the big point, and I'm always so mad after," Rice said.

Hunt added, "You know what you are getting with Darrin's serve. It's big, risk big reward. But when it goes in, it really puts the other team in a tough spot, and it's great that she was able to stay composed at the end of that set."

Once again, Venice jumped out to a big lead early in the third set at 7-2, and once again, Palisades fought back.  Palisades was able to get five points in a row on their serve to close the gap to 16-13, before Venice pulled away.

"They have a couple tough servers and at times we weren't able to adjust to them quickly enough and that's why they were able to come back.  But I'm proud of the girls for staying tough and pulling out all three sets," Hunt said.

Venice closed out the third and final set 25-18.  As she has in the past few games, Molly Lieske led the team in kills with 11. Venice has now won their last five games without droping a set.

There is more good news for Venice fans:  Junior Alize Joubert returned to the team Tuesday after suffering a hip contusion in the season opener. She will look to add even more depth to this first place squad.

Venice will continue their hot play on Wednesday, when they play at University High, who they swept earlier this year.