Gauchos show mettle against Olympians

The Saddleback women's volleyball team won its fourth straight match on Wednesday with a 3-0 win over San Diego Mesa College.  It was also the fourth straight sweep for the Gauchos, who came in ranked No. 18 in the state.

Saddleback was facing another top-20 team in San Diego Mesa College, who came in ranked No. 20 in the state. The Gauchos made quick work of the Olymipians, beating them 25-11, 25-14, and 25-22.  

Saddleback had too much for Mesa as the attack line of Natalee Gray, Avie Butsko and Kendall Nolan combined for 23 kills.  In the defensive end, Mandy Sides and Kelli Dowell both had nine digs apiece.   

The four straight wins by sweep is the first time Saddleback has swept four straight matches since 1998 when the Gauchos ('98-team, 24-6) won five straight by sweep from November 20-December 5.  Saddleback also had two more, five-sweep runs during the 1998 season.  However, both of those runs included matches that were in tournaments where it was a 2-of-3 format.  

The Gauchos open up Orange Empire Conference play this Friday (Sept. 15) at Santa Ana College (6-2) starting at 6:00 p.m.  The Gauchos then travel to face No. 6 Grossmont College on Wednesday (Sept. 20) in a non-conference match.