Maritza Arevalo goes for the dig.

GALT, CA (MPG) - Liberty Ranch volleyball stayed close with Union Mine all night Oct. 1 but lost 3-0 at home: 27-25, 25-22 and 25-21. The Hawks are now 6-3 in league play and in third place in the standings.

Across the three sets, Liberty Ranch scored 68 points to Union Mine's 77. The Hawks were in every set but couldn't finish any of them in front of their home crowd.

The first set was the closest of the night. The teams were tied at 24 and again at 25. Union Mine then scored the next two points to win it 27-25.

Charlee Miller spikes the ball.

Liberty Ranch stayed close again in the second set, losing 25-22. Union Mine pulled away late in the third set and won 25-21 to finish the sweep.

Senior Katelynn Hubbard led the Hawks' offense with a match-high 13 kills on 32 swings, about 4.3 kills per set. Nearly 41 percent of her attacks were kills.

Junior Olivia Mays was the most efficient hitter on the team. She had 5 kills on 9 swings with no errors, a .556 hitting percentage.

Katelynn Hubbard gets some air to spike over the net.

Sophomore Charlee Miller added 6 kills and hit .200. Sophomore Lacey Smith also had 6 kills and added 6 digs. Senior Vivian Frame had 5 kills and hit .231.

As a team, Liberty Ranch had 35 kills and 23 hitting errors on 103 attacks, a .117 hitting percentage. Those errors ere costly in sets decided by two, three and four points.

Senior setter Maritza Arevalo had a double-double with 32 assists and 12 digs. She also went 13 for 14 serving with 2 aces, and Liberty Ranch scored 5 points on her serve.

Senior Lily Pittman led the defense with a team-high 17 digs, about 5.7 per set. She also took 23 serve receptions, the most on the team. Pittman had 2 aces and a team-high 7 points on her serve.

Vivian Frame taps the ball over for the Hawks.

Senior Daphne Najar-Meza added 5 digs and 12 serve receptions without an error, and she made all 5 of her serves. Sophomore Paisley Longstreth had 4 digs and 9 receptions. Senior Gabriela Garcia added 3 digs.

The Hawks finished with 57 digs as a team. Their defense kept rallies going and made Union Mine work for every point.

Liberty Ranch had 5 aces and 9 service errors. Arevalo and Pittman had 2 aces each, and Frame added 1.

The loss stings because every set was close. Still, Liberty Ranch played a strong Union Mine team evenly for most of the night. At 6-3 in league and in third place, the Hawks still have plenty to play for. Cleaner hitting will be the key to winning close sets like these the rest of the way.

Daphne Najar-meza saves the ball.