Lions triumph at home over Eagles

MOSES LAKE – The Moses Lake Christian Academy/Christian Covenant School Lions volleyball team earned a 3-0 home win over the Soap Lake Eagles on Tuesday evening. The Lions are now 6-3 overall, and the Eagles are 3-3. 

“Today we played unified as a team,” said Lions senior player SanTahna Ferguson. “We triumphed and pushed through because some of us are sick and not feeling very good. We worked hard, played hard and this was the result.” 

The Lions started the night off strong, earning a 25-12 victory in the first set and a 25-13 victory in the second set. The Eagles made a momentum change in the third set, where they took an early lead, but the Lions quickly rebounded and won 25-17. 

This was a big win for the Lions following a tough 0-3 loss against Liberty Christian on Monday. Ferguson said the team had been working on their mental game, as that has been a struggle for the team this season. 

“Volleyball is something that is 80% in your mind and 20% physical, so that’s what we’ve been working on,” she said.  

Lions head coach Dean Spurbeck said the team had a lot more energy coming into their matchup against the Eagles, which contributed to their victory. One of the things the team focused on was being more aggressive against their opponent. 

“Soap Lake is a very good team and so that was a good win for us,” he said. “We played how we’re supposed to play and we were on our toes.” 

This matchup taught the Lions the importance of keeping their head in the game and staying positive on the court, as this led to their success, said Spurbeck. 

The struggle for the Eagles came from the number of errors that were made during the game, said Eagles head coach Niki Noble. She said overall, the Lions outplayed the Eagles in all aspects of the game.  

“We don’t normally have that many hitting errors, and they outplayed us, they out hit us,  they out passed us and I believe they out served us as well,” said Noble. “When we give up that many points to the fundamental things that should be happening on the court, they end up with a win.” 

She said the Eagles will need to not underestimate their opponent in any matchup and continue working on the fundamentals as they move forward in their season. The Eagles will have a short span of time to prepare for their game tonight. 

“We’ll probably have a talk after school about goals and skills that we want to improve on,” said Noble. 

The Lions are in a similar boat as they head into the midseason. Spurbeck said the team does not get the opportunity to practice as much in a week due to the number of games that they have to play, meaning that the team has to use each individual game as a learning opportunity. 

“We just reinforce things in practice, but a lot of times at this point in the season, the game is also our learning time,” he said. 

The Eagles played last night against Wilson Creek, and the results of that game were unavailable at the time of publication. Tonight, the Lions will go on the road to play against Waterville-Mansfield at 6:30 p.m. and the Eagles’ next game will be at home Tuesday, where they play against Garden City Academy at 6 p.m. 

BOX SCORE: 

MLCA: 25-25-25: 3
SPLK: 12-13-17: 0 

    Eagles player Sage Hart prepares to respond to a serve to the middle from the Lions. The Eagles made a strong push in the third set holding the lead for the majority of the set.
  

    Lions senior SanTahna Ferguson sprints into position following her serve against the Eagles. Ferguson said the Lions showed team unity throughout the game and triumphed over illness.
  

    Eagles senior Mylee Dana readies herself to serve during Tuesday’s game against the Lions. The Eagles set their sights toward their next game against Wilson Creek which was set the following day.
  

    Clarissa Shopbell from the Lions sends the ball back over the net during the game against the Eagles. As the season continues, both teams prepare for shorter days between games.
  

    Eagles player Marina Zubritskiy (7) bumps the ball up into the air following a serve to the middle from the Lions while her teammate, Alyson Zufall (11), keeps an eye on the ball from behind.