Cougars open conference play with win over West Hills Coalinga

Kaimana Botelho-Patoc posted 17 kills, 16 digs, and four aces in the win over West Hills Coalinga. (Photo by Taft Midway Driller/@midwaydriller)
Kaimana Botelho-Patoc posted 17 kills, 16 digs, and four aces in the win over West Hills Coalinga. (Photo by Taft Midway Driller/@midwaydriller)

The Taft College women's volleyball team began Central Valley Conference play with a win, defeating visiting West Hills College Coalinga 3-1 on Wednesday. The Cougars took the match by scores of 25-16, 25-19, 13-25, 25-12 to improve to 2-4 overall and 1-0 in the CVC.

Taft took advantage of 18 West Hills Coalinga errors over the first two sets to take a commanding 2-0 lead. TC couldn't complete the sweep, but slammed home 12 kills in the fourth set on its way to the convincing victory.

Freshman Kaimana Botelho-Patoc continues to put up big offensive numbers for the Cougars. She has totaled double-digit kills in five of six Taft matches this season as she had 17 to lead TC against the Falcons on Wednesday. Botelho-Patoc added 16 digs and four aces.

Jada Dias contributed 11 kills, 12 digs, and three aces while Kayla Iwata also had a good match with 31 assists and 14 digs.

The Cougars return to the court next Wednesday (Sep. 22) when they travel to Porterville College for a 6 p.m. match.