The Vegas Thrill lost in a sweep against the San Diego Mojo on March 24 to make its record to 5-8 on the season.
It was Ninth Island Night at the Dollar Loan Center as the Thrill hosted the San Diego Mojo. The vibe got set early with everyone wearing leis and even a haka performed before the game.
First Set
The Thrill got out to a quick 7-2 lead and showed great poise and focus to get out front. A pair of kills by Gabby Gonzales helped fuel the start for Vegas. The Mojo got its mojo back however, leading midway through the first set 12-11.
The Mojo controlled the latter half of the first set. Another point from San Diego made the score 20-17. Gonzales was doing all she could to get the Thrill back in the lead scoring three straight points but it wasn’t enough. San Diego got its last point on a rally and secured the win in the first set.
Second Set
The second half was a back and forth battle, wIth each team matching each other after every point scored. Midway through the second set the game was tied with a score of 10-10. Gonzales kept her hot start going, scoring three points. Berkeley Oblad and Hannah Maddux added two points of their own to help the Thrill in this set.
Neither team could pull away as the score was still tied up at 17-17.
The Mojo scored two straight points with one of those being an ace to make the score 21-19. This caused Vegas to call a timeout in order to regroup. The Thrill regrouped to try to avoid falling behind 2-0 to the Mojo.
Saskia Hippe and Layne Van Buskirk scored two points each but it wasn’t enough for the Thrill to win the set. Ultimately, Temi Thomas Ailara got it done for the Mojo with a stellar kill to give San Diego its second set win.
After falling down 2-0 to the Mojo, the Thrill are in a tough spot.
“We wanted to make them respond to us,” Thrill head coach Flan Flory said. “We needed to be offensive and take control, not worry about what they were doing. The drive between sets 2-3 was to score points and be aggressive.”
Third Set
The Mojo did not cool off during the break and started the third set off hot. They had a lead of 9-2 as result of big plays by its middle blocker Ronika Stone. Miscommunication on offense really hurt the Thrill in this set.
Hippie had a phenomenal kill for the Thrill to try and get them going in this third set. With a deficit of 14-6, they still had a steep hill to climb in order to get back in this game deciding set. Oblad Oblad added three points of her own but the Mojo had all the momentum at this point and led with a score of 20-10.
After the Mojo scored two points, the Thrill went on a 5-0 run to try and crawl their way back in the set. At the end, it was not enough, as Lindsay Vander Weide got a kill to win the set by the score of 25-12 to give San Diego the win.
The Thrill could not finish sets and the Mojo had the momentum throughout the match. The loss is the Thrill’s eighth of the season and it makes its record to three games under 500.
“As a team you just have to move on,” Flory said. “We will get in the gym, get some rest, get a terrific game plan out there and get ready for Grand Rapids on Tuesday.”
