Bourgade Catholic capped off its season with quite a rough loss, falling in three sets to Odyssey Institute on Thursday.  After beginning the season 8-5, the squad could not find its rhythm in section play, finishing with a 3-7 record in the 3A Metro West section.

The Golden Eagles fell 14-25 in the first set, and 13-25 in the second, but they were much more competitive in the last set of the match, and came out with a 7-6 lead.  Their commanding start forced Odyssey Institute’s head coach, Brian Weaver, to call a timeout. 

The Minotaur came back, however, as they got their swagger back regardless of the strong intensity Bourgade came out with for their last set of the season.

While there are only four seniors on the Bourgade squad, the team most certainly looked as if they were playing with lots of emotion in the last set due to it also being their last opportunity until next year.

“I know that all of our seniors wanted to go out with a bang, and I definitely wanted to go out with a bang my last time together with this team,” said Erin Fish, a junior setter for the Golden Eagles. 

“This was a really hard team we played, and we basically at the end of the game brought intensity,” Fish said.  “We gave them a run for their money.  Unfortunately we fell short, but we came together as a team.”

Odyssey Institute was led by junior Rilee White, who was able to make her mark while serving with three aces and also had nine kills.

“Rilee White’s a highlight reel every night,” Weaver said.  “She just understands the game so well.  She’s very physical in the game, she’s very aggressive in the game, and plays hard every play.”

The Minotaur finished 8-2 in their section, and will be competing in the playoffs. 

“I’ve got a good group of girls that have been together for three or four years,” Weaver said.  “They’ve played together.  They understand the system, and have bought into the system.  They work hard in practices and do the things they need to do, so that’s led to a lot of success.”

Bourgade head coach Melida Espinoza has a different situation with her team, because her squad is very young.  Her core is, in fact, quite sophomore heavy.

“We are young,” Espinoza said.  “The main core out there is young.  They’re all sophomores except for (Fish) is a junior.  So we do have our setter coming back, she’s still working.  We still have our middle coming back.  We still have a strong outside, so we just have to keep working and keep going.  They’re getting all this playing time this year, which can only help them get better for next year.”

Bourgade finished the season with an overall record of 11-12.