BILL SPARKES/Acorn Newspapers AGILITY AND STYLE—With a nice set from Megan Metcalf, left, Christina Vaughen displays perfect form as she stretches to spike the ball at a recent practice session for the Simi Valley girls’ volleyball team. The Pioneers lost their first league match Tuesday night against Thousand Oaks. Losing to Thousand Oaks High School in the first Marmonte League girls’ volleyball match wasn’t Simi Valley’s plan, and especially not that of Ryan Meek on the evening of his league headcoaching debut.

Simi Valley on Tuesday opened league play at Thousand Oaks, taking a loss from the Lancers in three games, 25-18, 25-12 and 25-23.

The Pioneers hosted the Newbury Park Panthers last night.

Newbury Park lost its first game of the season to Westlake Tuesday at home.

On Tuesday, Westlake will be at Simi Valley, and a week from Thursday, it will be a short road trip to play the cross-town rival Royal Highlanders.

The matches all have 6 p.m. start times.

Against Thousand Oaks, the Pioneers began the first game of the match by taking a 6-1 lead. But the Lancers caught up and were never headed in game one.

“That’s more of a product of T.O. being T.O.,” Meek said. “We did everything we possibly could in that first game to take it from them and you have to credit them for bouncing back and halting our run, getting back into their flow and doing the things they wanted to do and taking it from us.

“We didn’t give them very much,” Meek said. “They stepped up and they took from us. That’s what good teams do.”

Simi Valley’s non-league wins included beating the Moorpark Musketeers, 25-23, in the Ventura Tournament and defeating the Oaks Christian Lions in three games, 31-29, 25-18 and 25-23.

“Our team has a lot of experience, a lot of girls coming back from last year’s team,” Meek said. “It’s going to be a matter of how well they blend with the girls we’re bringing up and how hard they’re willing to work during practice. If we come in and we work hard from here on out, there’s no reason we can’t meet our goals.

“We proved that we can hang with a team like T.O. It’s just a matter of getting over that hump now,” he said, “getting in the gym and practicing harder, more consistently and coming back and then trying to beat them when we play them next.”

The coach lauded senior middle blocker Christine Vaughen, who’s committed to the University of North Carolina for next year.

Vaughen, he said, “is our best all-around player. She’s the girl we need to have a big game.”

Vaughen added that the key to her playing at the top of her game is “having a lot of confidence and just getting in the zone and just playing with perfection, which I can.”

Vaughen said it’s important to get in that zone that every athlete tries to get into.

“That’s how I do it,” she said. “I think our team kind of feeds off all of us, all of our enthusiasm, especially seniors.”

Meek said that senior setter/ opposite Megan Metcalf “has really stepped up into a setting role, which she’s never done before.”

Metcalf said that she believes a team having energy is the key to winning.

“When it works well, we have our head in the game, really just keeping the energy up,” Metcalf said. “When our energy’s up, we click. Everything just goes together, we dominate, we’re on top of it all.

“As soon as we let up, our energy stuff starts to go down. It’s part of the mental game, I guess,” Metcalf said. “Physical wise, we’re ahead of every team in the league. As long as we work on that, then we’re okay.”

Senior outside hitter Jessi McElroy, another team leader, is “doing a great job for us,” the coach said.

Meek said he’s hoping that Vaughen, Metcalf and McElroy will congeal with senior middle blocker Brittany Asplund and jun ior outside hitter Shakila Bolkhi, who was an outside hitter on JV. “It’s a matter of just gelling those two groups together,” he said.

Four captains, Vaughen, Metcalf, McElroy, Megan and senior setter Morgan Wenrich are serving as the team’s leaders this year.

“Our goal is to do the best we can in league,” Meek said. “Obviously with T.O. in our league, it gets tough to come out and say, ‘We’re going to win league.’ We get them again (at Simi Valley on Oct. 14 in a 5 p.m. match). Hopefully we can give a better effort next time.”

Vaughen said her performance against Thousand Oaks wasn’t the best example of how she likes to play. “But,” she added, “we’ll just have to show it the next time we play T.O.,” Vaughen said.

“It was kind of a wake-up call for us. It shows us how we need to be practicing. I’m excited to come out to see the next matches and show that we’ll finish well,” she said.

As far as looking beyond the end of league play, Metcalf said that the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section postseason play isn’t the immediate objective.

“Playoffs we’re not really worried about because we’re focusing on winning league this year,” she said. “So this will probably be our only loss. I can’t wait for them to come back.”

Meek echoed Metcalf ’s statement.

“Right now we’re hoping to do as well as we can and hope the team gels and makes it into (CIF) playoffs,” Meek said.

Along with the other Pioneers, the coach will be counting on strong performances from liberos Jess Deyoe and Kerry Jordan, seniors; outside hitter Haley Parkston, libero Jessica Reyes and middle blocker Danielle Spangler, juniors; and opposite Leeann Harridsleff and setter Carrie Nasby, sophomores.