COD (4-7) took the match to the limit, fighting back to win a hard fought fourth to force a fifth, but fell late to the Riverside City Tigers (6-8), 3-2 (25-17, 16-25, 25-14, 21-25, 15-13).

Tonight's match was a rescheduled match from August 27th and while the delay may have seemed to be an annoyance for some at the time, in August fans would not have been able to attend, in October, the COD Gym was rocking. Desert would wrap up non-Conference play with a five-set thriller against their intra-County rival, the Riverside City Tigers.

In set one, neither team could get away from one another as Desert would pull ahead a little, then the Tigers would tie it up and go ahead a little, and back-and-forth it went. Then after being tied at 13-13, Riverside used a 6-0 run to pull away and while the Roadrunners remained close, the Tigers would close the game with a 4-0 run, taking set one, 25-17.

In set two, Desert went on a rampage, the Tigers made the first point, then the Roadrunners went on a run, which included three ace serves. By the time the dust a settled, slightly, Desert had a 12-2 lead. Then Riverside came roaring back, going 6-0, letting the Roadrunners know that the visitors were not giving up and forcing Desert to burn a timeout. And while the rest of the game would go back-and-forth, the Tigers could never take the lead and Desert would tie the game a 1-1, with a 25-16 victory in set two.

In set three, Riverside jumped out to an early lead and while the Roadrunners would get close, even getting to within one point 10-9, Desert could not get past the Tigers, falling 25-14 in set three.

In set four, the Roadrunners would gut out a great 25-21 set win in set four to force a set five, even overcoming a late 4-0 rally by the Tigers. In the fifth set, the game was tied as late as 9-9 and then after a 3-0 run by Desert, the Tigers started to pull away, then the Roadrunners tied it at 13-13, but Riverside would score the next two.

Freshman setter Kianna Diaz (Palm Desert H.S.) led the team with 38 set assists and grabbing 17 digs and freshman outside hitter Kaila Sandy (La Quinta H.S.) led the team with 20 kills, 2 service aces and 28 digs.

The Roadrunners have an 8-9 all-time record versus Riverside City, with a Desert holding a 4-2 record over the Tigers in Palm Desert.

Freshman outside hitter Yesenia Ramirez (Indio Shadow Hills) led the team with 4 service aces, collecting 12 kills and 16 digs and freshman opposite Lila Cowdell (Herriman, UT) had 19 digs, 6 kills and 2 service aces.

Freshman middle blocker Katie Alexander (Yucca Valley H.S.) had 2 service aces and led the team with 2 block assists and freshman middle blocker Caitlin Bilhartz (Bowling Green, MO) led the team with a solo block.

The next game for Desert is at home on October 13th at 5 p.m., where the Roadrunners will host another Inland Empire Athletic Conference (IEAC), as they welcome the Chaffey Panthers of Rancho Cucamonga. The Roadrunners have an 26-31 all-time record versus Chaffey, with an 17-13 record in the Coachella Valley.

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For additional information, please contact the COD Sports Information Office at 760.423.6641.

Information, Story & Photo provided by COD Sports Information.