Taft College returned to Central Valley Conference play last week but didn't get the results they were looking for. On Wednesday, the Cougars suffered a 3-1 loss at College of the Sequoias and wrapped up the week with a 3-1 defeat at home against Columbia College on Friday.
At COS, the Cougars dropped the first two sets by scores of 25-8 and 25-14 before pulling out a hard-fought 25-23 win in Set 3 to avoid the sweep. But the magic didn't last long as the Giants closed the match with a 25-11 win.
Keala Skeele was the Cougars' leader on offense with seven kills in the match. She also added eight digs and four blocks.
Lauren Pau-De Santos added six kills and four digs while Jasmine Chipen-le led the defense with 10 digs to go along with five kills. Taylor Tuliloa had a team-best 17 assists and Madison Barcelona put together a good all-around match with four kills, five digs, and three blocks.
Friday's result was a repeat of Wednesday but was a more competitive match. Columbia edged the Cougars 25-21, 25-18 in the opening sets before Taft rallied to take Set 3, 25-20. But the Claimjumpers were able to take the win, closing out the contest 25-21 in Set 4.
Columbia hit an impressive .418 for the match, committing just four attack errors.
Skeele once again led the Cougars, this time slamming down 11 kills to go with seven digs, three blocks, and two aces.
As a squad, Taft totaled a season-high 79 digs including 24 from Christy Hopfe. Pau-De Santos had 16 digs while also contributing seven kills and three aces. Barcelona totaled seven kills as well.
Chipen-li chipped in with 13 digs, three kills, and three aces while Abygail Olejnik came off the bench to post four kills on just nine attempts.
The two losses dropped Taft to 4-14 overall and 2-4 in conference play. The Cougars will look to snap a four-match losing streak when they return to action on Friday (Oct. 11) with a 6 p.m. CVC contest at Merced College.