Nixon volleyball wins opener

The 2010 volleyball season officially arrived on Tuesday as teams across the Gateway City hit the court looking for their first wins of the season.

Nixon had many questions heading into its season opener, but quickly found the answers as it beat Zapata, 25-23, 22-25, 19-25, 25-17, 16-14, at the Richard Barton gymnasium.

The Lady Mustangs had to shake of the rust from the long summer months to experiment with their lineup to see which combination fits the team for another playoff run.

Nixon (1-0) had a deep offensive attack that was led by Erin Leal and Sammie Garcia, who combined for 21 kills to lead the Lady Mustangs at the net.

Zapata (0-1) was a formidable opponent that had a strong front row that kept pace with Nixon on every point.

The Lady Hawks were without the services of their head coach, Rosie Villarreal, who took a leave of absence for personal reasons and will be back on the sidelines soon.

The Lady Hawks’ offense tested the Nixon defense all afternoon long with three offensive dynamos that kept sending line drives to the defense.

Senior Brandi King led Zapata with 16 kills.

Also making a big impact in their first varsity game were Shelby Bigler and Kristina De Leon.

Bigler had five kills while De Leon contributed with seven.

Nixon libero Celinda Verastigui and the defense, however, stood their ground and kept fighting through the bombs that were launched by King and company.

Ultimately, in the fifth and deciding game, the score seesawed back and forth, but it was Nixon which pulled through in the final points of the game.

NIXON STATS: Erin Leal (14 kills), Sammie Garcia (seven kills), Roslynn Velasquez (17 assists, four aces), Liza Villarreal (17 digs), Celinda Verastigui (25 digs).

ZAPATA STATS: Brandi Kings (16 kills), Celina Mata (one kill), Shelby Bigler (five kills), Kristina De Leon (seven kills).