The Saugus Centurions were undefeated to start the season with 10 wins up until the Village Christian Crusaders came into town for Thursday’s game.
Following a back-and-forth battle with Village Christian, Saugus (10-1) would wind up losing to the Crusaders (1-1) in five sets, 25-15, 24-26, 15-25, 25-17, and 14-16.
“We are learning how to play. We’ve got two freshmen out there, we’ve got sometimes two sophomores starting, and we’re playing at a high level,” head coach Zachary Ambrose said. “And sometimes there are some growing pains that go along with that.”
The Centurions were in form the first set, claiming the win by 10 points over the Crusaders.
But by the time the second set began, the Centurions found themselves behind with Village Christian playing error-free and going on rallies that the Centurions had no answer for.
The Crusaders would win the second set, capitalizing off an attacking error by Kimora Hogains.
In the third set, Saugus came out more determined.
Freshman Chasiah Omoregie started the scoring with an ace to give Saugus the early lead.
Despite the aces from Omoregie, the Centurions didn’t have an answer for Village Christian’s offense. All night mistakes from Saugus would wind up being too costly.
In the third set, Saugus lost 9-16 after a net violation.
But, picking up her teammates was opposite hitter Taylor Stires.
Stires had 17 kills in 33 attacking attempts while also leading the team in digs with 18.
“She’s been around very good players for her whole life, and it’s just kind of showing itself now in her senior year,” Ambrose said. “I’m happy that she’s playing really well.”
Despite her performance, Village Christain would capitalize on Saugus’ mistakes for the win.
A failed dig attempt from the Saugus defense would give the set point to the Crusaders after the ball went out of bounds.
Down two sets to one, Saugus began the next set rallying with Stires leading the team.
An explosive kill from the opposite hitter would give Saugus a 21-15 lead. And joining alongside with her with a great performance was freshman Chasiah Omoregie.
In 24 attacking attempts, Omoregie had 10 kills throughout five sets with only one attacking error — a performance that impressed her head coach.
“She has good energy and good intensity,” Ambrose said. “She doesn’t slow down, and I like her going as a fast as she can.”
Saugus would win the fourth set by a comfortable margin after a Hogains kill and force a fifth and final decisive set.
With the crowd roaring in the bleachers, the fifth set was a battle as both teams fought back and forth, exchanging kills and going on long rallies.
Village Christian would end up taking an 8-5 lead in the fifth, but Stires and Omoregie kept Saugus in the game to tie the game again at 10 apiece.
But the errors from Saugus would end up costing them the game. With the score tied at 13 apiece, a service error gave the Crusaders the match point.
Saugus wound up tying the game after a Crusader attacking error, but lost the fifth set and game after a mistake setting the ball up on offense.
After the game, Ambrose held a long conversation with his team, telling them to stay optimistic, that the season is young and there’s still a lot to learn together.
“I just told them that we need to not feel bad about the loss. This is our growth moment to see how we need to get better.”
Ambrose is determined that the next game can be a learning moment and that Saugus can get back to its winning ways.
“We don’t change anything. We just keep training the way we train and playing the brand of volleyball that we want to,” he said.
Looking ahead, Saugus picks up non-league action Tuesday at Crescenta Valley.
