A comeback win against the Grossmont Gauchos in the season opener was followed by three straight losses to Pasadena, Mount San Antonio and prohibitive state championship favorite Orange Coast.
But the team was able to get off the schneid after the straight-sets loss to OCC the next day in the Victor Valley tournament, where they stung together consecutive straight-sets victories over Antelope Valley and the tournament’s hosts.
Their 3-3 record leaves Citrus in essentially the same place they started when they began the season. The squad has an 11-day break until they host the Fullerton College Hornets Sept. 19.
Head coach Shin Jung said that time will not be wasted.
“Right now, we’re still struggling to find an identity, which is kind of unfortunate because we are already six games into our season,” he said. “But . . . I think we’re figuring out what’s working for us and what’s not working.”
What has been working for the Owls is the middle blocking of Kimberly Collins and Kayla Eddings. The pair has notched over 60 kills each and leads the team in blocks, with 10 and 7 respectively.
Collins, a 5-foot-10-inch sophomore, received an All-Western State Conference honorable mention during the 2011 season.
Eddings is a 6-foot freshman from Upland High School, where she played with Collins until 2011.
“I think it’s helped a lot,” Eddings said. “We know each other and know how to play with one another.”
“We have the chemistry,” Collins added.
The Owls’ host Fullerton College Sept. 19 at 6 p.m.
