COLTON — Tri-Valley opened regional play with a solid four-set win Tuesday, November 3rd, defeating Baltic 3-1 (25-13, 25-19, 16-25, 25-18) in a Region 3A match at Tri-Valley High School.
The Mustangs set the tone in the opening set, breaking open a tight start and building separation as the set went on. After it was even at 3-3, Tri-Valley edged ahead 7-5 and continued to stretch the lead at 10-6 and 16-8. The Mustangs kept rolling late, moving in front 20-9 before closing out the opener 25-13.
Set two followed a similar pattern, with Tri-Valley steadily widening the gap. The Mustangs led 8-5, 12-9, and 16-10, then pulled away down the stretch at 20-13 and 22-16 to take the set 25-19 and go up 2-0.
Baltic answered in the third set and Tri-Valley had to fight to stay in it early. The set was tight early (2-2, 5-3, 9-7), but Baltic used a late run to take control and finish the set 25-16 to extend the match.
In the fourth set, the teams traded points throughout the beginning and middle, with the score tied at 7-7, 9-9, 12-12, and 15-15. Tri-Valley created the separation it needed late, turning a 16-16 edge into an 18-16 lead, then pushing it to 22-16 before closing out the match with a 25-18 win.
