East Registers a Clear-Cut Victory

Why did the East win?

One reason was Crystal clear.

Crystal Crawford of Thousand Oaks High had 12 kills to help the East beat the West, 11-15, 15-2, 15-11, in the Ventura County all-star girls’ volleyball match Friday night at Moorpark College.

Crawford, who played middle blocker for the Lancers during the regular season, settled in nicely at outside hitter as the East ended a two-year losing streak in the annual all-star match.

“Any time you have someone who hits that hard, you want to get the ball to them,” said East Coach Robert Haar of Thousand Oaks.

Good plan.

The East took a 6-3 lead in the first game as Westlake’s Marci Davis served up six points. But the East’s early success rapidly disintegrated with six serving errors.

The West employed a digging defense in taking the first game, but things changed in the second.

The East straightened out its serve (four aces, two errors) and improved its offense (four kills from Crawford) to tie the match.

The East served, blocked and executed better in the third game.

In the match, Royal’s Lakesha DeBerry had six kills for the East. For the West, Colleen Fitzsimmons of Ventura had seven.