WEED – The College of the Siskiyous Lady Eagles volleyball team now has something in common with Wiley Coyote—both came close, but neither could catch the Road Runner. The Butte College Road Runners (23-3) paid a visit to Weed and went home with a 3-1 win, despite furious comeback attempts by the Lady Eagles.

Set-one was all about Butte, as the Road Runners controlled from start to finish, beating an apparently stunned COS squad 25-13. It looked like it was going to be a short night.

Set-two began in similar fashion, with Butte going up 5-1. COS, however, managed to maintain contact. With a raucous crowd of Eagle football players dominating the cheering section, and trailing 19-14, the Lady Eagles made their move.

A kill by Katie Zauner made it 19-15. Another Zauner rocket cut it to 19-17. An ace by Heather Wicks brought COS to within a single point at 19-18. Butte pushed its lead back to three points at 23-20, but a Laura McMahon kill started a 4-0 run by the Lady Eagles. Next, Amber Franko notched an ace, 23-22. Wicks tied it with a kill, 23-23. And a block by McMahon gave COS its first lead of the match.

Butte regained the lead 25-24, but a pair of kills by Kinzy Towry, including the set-winner, sandwiched around a kill by Zauner gave the Lady Eagles the win 27-25.

The Lady Eagles started strong in set-three, leading in most of the early going, but were unable to hang on. Trailing 10-8, Butte rattled off six straight points to take a 14-10 lead. COS got back to within a point on a kill by Ashley Spaulding, at 15-14. But, Butte went on to outscore the Lady Eagles 10-3 to win the set 25-17, and take a 2-1 match lead.

The Road Runners led early in set-four, but the Lady Eagles urged on by the crowd came back to take an 11-10 lead on an ace by Samantha Stoneback. COS seemed to be drawing substantial energy from the crowd, which also seemed to be rattling the Road Runners. After several lead changes, the Lady Eagles took a two point advantage 19-17 on a Zauner kill and a Kinzy ace, and seemed poised to even the match.

Unfortunately for COS, Butte showed why they sit on top of the Golden Valley Conference (4-0), by closing out the set and the match on an 8-1 run, to win 25-20, and 3-1.

COS (19-8, 2-3) will host Feather River (15-7, 3-1) on Friday, October 31 at 6:00. The Lady Eagles fell to the Golden Eagles 3-2 earlier this season.