After her team’s three-set, 25-21, 25-21, 25-15 win over the Lakewood Lancers, Wilson coach Susan Pescar, whose team is perfect in league (not yet dropping a set) and ranked 14^th in the nation by ESPN, expressed…displeasure.  Why?  Because when you’re trying to achieve potential, you have to play to your own standard, and the Bruins didn’t play to their top level in what still amounted to a dominant showing against Lakewood.  They were sloppy on the net, and their usually stellar back-line defense was unorganized, and uninspired. 

“Anybody is beatable on any given day,” said Pescar.  “People think it’s just the stars aligning, but it has more to do with intensity, whether or not they’re on, how they slept the night before…if you’re a little bit off, and someone else is really on, that’s all it takes.”

Fortunately for Pescar’s Bruins, the Lancers weren’t really on, though they did display a great deal of potential, and may have a first or second-round CIF playoffs upset in them.  However, against the Bruins yesterday afternoon, the Lancers committed too many errors to unseat Wilson from their seat atop the standings—in the first set, the Bruins got four of their final nine points off Lakewood double-touches and lifting calls.  Lakewood put up a fight in the second as well, but Wilson found a second gear after the Lancers went up 17-17, closing on a 10-4 run.  The third was sloppy on both sides of the net, as six of the set’s first eleven points came off of penalties or bad serves—the Bruins pulled it together with a 6-0 run that sealed the match.

While he wants more from his team, Lakewood coach Jeremy Moenoa was satisfied with his team’s performance.  “We made a lot of errors, but those are fixable,” he said.  “Honestly, this is one of the better games we’ve played in a long time—we’re getting closer to our potential, this was an upswing after a long downswing.”

For the Lancers, Jon Burkehardt led the way, dominating above the net and serving as his team’s best offensive weapon.  The Bruins got a piecemeal performance, with several role players chipping in—Louie Frost had 20 assists, 11 kills, and 5 digs, Cory Leckie had 15 assists, and Mike Wilder had 7 kills and 9 digs.  The Bruins are 12-4 overall, and 4-0 in league, and will play next week in Santa Barbara’s Tournament of Champions before continuing league play on April 21^st against Millikan.  The Lancers fall to 2-2 and will host Jordan on the 21^st.