The 3-1 defeat at the hands of Irvine Valley marked the Lady Chargers’ first loss in nearly a month and put an end to their impressive six-game winning streak in which five of their six wins were shutouts.
The aforementioned season finale—which was played on Cypress’ home court—also provided the Lady Chargers an opportunity to build upon their impressive record at home, finishing the season 8-2 in those matches. The win marked a season split with Orange Coast after losing the Chargers lost to the club on the road earlier this year.
But on the week of Thanksgiving, the Chargers were shut out 3-0 against MiraCosta in round one of the SoCal Regionals, ending their season.
The Chargers finished third in the Orange Empire Conference standings with an 11-6 conference record, which theoretically ties them with runner-up Orange Coast, but Cypress’ lower overall winning percentage places them third in the standings. The Chargers finished 15-8 overall.
No one, however, will have caught Irvine Valley, who ended their regular season with an undefeated record (16-0) in conference play and 25-0 overall.
Chargers freshman Lauren Adamo led the team with 362 digs this season, while fellow freshman Mary Hicks leads the team in overall points. Hicks, Adamo, and sophomore Brittany Zavala were the only players on the roster with over 200 points this season. Meanwhile, another pair of freshman—Alondra Lamas and Alexis Flores—are the only other two players to eclipse 100 points.
The Chargers received help from all across the board, including via the contributions of sophomore Danielle Gomez, who leads the team with 794 saves. Freshman Rachel Burney is second—with 116. Not only is that a testament to Gomez’s abilities, but Burney gives the Chargers a second player tallying triple-digits in that category.
Zavala leads the team with 17 solo blocks, with both Flores (9) and Hicks (6) rounding out the top three.
Overall this season, the Chargers averaged more kills per set (12.25), a higher hitting percentage (.208) and more blocks per set (2.14) in conference play than they did in their outer-conference match-ups.
Hicks, who led the team with 246 kills and 55 blocks, earned All-Orange Empire Conference First Team honors as a freshman. She registered 12 games with double-digit kills.
Adamo, Hicks’ freshman teammate, helped fortify the Chargers’ defense en route to her own accolade: All-Orange Empire Conference Second Team. The Chargers are hoping the young tandem of Hicks and Adamo can continue anchoring their roster entering next season.
