Women's Volleyball: Pirates drop season-opener at San Diego Mesa

Sophomore Brooke Reilly totaled a match-high 7 kills but an inexperienced Porterville Pirates team couldn't keep up with the balanced attack of the San Diego Mesa College Olympians and suffered a 3-0 loss on their road in both teams' 2017 season-opener on Friday.

San Diego Mesa, a Southern California Regional Playoff qualifier last season, took the match by scores of 25-18, 25-13, and 25-13.

New PC head coach Pete Rasmussen said before the season began that he would lean heavily on returning sophomores Reilly and Ashlynn Miller. Both played well as Reilly added 7 digs to her team-high kills total while Miller paced the Pirates with a match-best 10 digs.

Freshmen Emily Baeza and Emerald Harris also contributed in their Porterville debuts. Baeza had 6 digs while Harris totaled 14 assists and 3 kills.

The Pirates hit the road immediately after their contest to make an eight-hour drive from San Diego to the San Francisco Bay Area. Porterville will compete at the College of Alameda Tournament to take on DeAnza College and Contra Costa College at the 8th annual Cougar Classic on Saturday (Aug. 26).