One telltale sign of a good team is the ability to win even when they don’t play their best. And that was exactly the case for the Simi Valley volleyball team during Wednesday night’s match against Moorpark.

Despite posting a three-set victory (25-13, 25-19, 26-24) on the road against an overmatched Musketeers squad, several Pioneers’ players were not totally satisfied with the overall performance of their team. It was the type of reaction one might expect from a group that has established lofty goals for itself this season.

"I think we played OK this game, not great, and not as good as we can play," senior opposite Ian Jackson said. "But with our recent win over Westlake and our performance in last weekend’s tournament—winning over a couple of really good teams—I think we are headed in the right direction."

Last weekend, Simi placed third out of 30 schools in the Dos Pueblos Invitational, a multi-day event that features some of the top volleyball programs from around the Southern Section.

Jackson, last season’s Marmonte League Player of the Year who has already signed a letter of intent to play for UCLA in the fall, recorded a team-leading 14 kills in the victory over Moorpark.

The Musketeers (4-2, 2-2 in league) jumped on the board early in the first game before Simi (7-2, 4-0 in league) tied the opening stanza at 8-8. The scoring for both teams went back and forth before the Pioneers took control with a 14-13 lead. Simi would go on to notch the game’s final 12 points for a 25-13 victory.

Simi continued its dominance in the second game. The Pioneers raced out to an early lead before Moorpark evened the score at 5-5. After the tie, the Pioneers continued to apply pressure to the youthful squad from Moorpark, holding off a late rally that saw MHS pull to within 21-18 late in the second game. But when Musketeers’ senior middle blocker Mark Watson was long on a return at game point, the Pioneers had wrapped up the second game 25-19.

Moorpark refused to go down without a fight in the third game. In the most highly competitive game of the match, the two schools battled through six lead changes and 11 ties before Simi prevailed for a 26-24 win.

"I thought we got the job done tonight," Simi head coach Peter Piexoto said. "We could have probably played a little better than we did, but the guys did what they had to do to get a win. We executed when we had to and played hard."

Senior outside hitter Eric Rasmussen agreed that the Pioneers’ performance could have been better.

"We were holding it together pretty well but we weren’t playing at the top of our game," Rasmussen said. "We were getting some good points in and stuff, but we need to step it up like we were playing at Dos Pueblos and play a little better defense in the future."

Rasmussen finished the night with seven kills and five digs. Senior setter Jeremy Wright had a game-high 32 assists, while senior defensive specialist Richard Rule chipped in with three aces and eight digs for Simi.

Sophomore middle blocker Sean Daly led Moorpark with five blocks and five kills. Junior defensive specialist Andre Oleas contributed a team high six digs for the Musketeers.

With spring break next week, Simi will have plenty of time to rest up before it plays its next match Wednesday, April 6, at Thousand Oaks.