Despite a long season filled with adversity, the San Diego Mojo (10-17) would not be stopped against the Columbus Fury (8-19). The Mojo started down 4-8 in the first set, leading to a swift timeout call by Head Coach Tayyiba Haneef-Park, but that was about all the struggles the Mojo faced tonight. The team responded to this timeout call with a 21-13 run to end the set and secure a 1-0 lead in the match.

Rookie outside hitters Maya Tabron and Elise McGhee were engaged on both sides of the ball, as Tabron finished with 10 points and 12 digs and McGhee racked up nine points, including a team-high two aces.

San Diego’s middles were locked in as starting middle blocker Regan Pittman led the Mojo in both kills(11) and blocks(3). Ronika Stone brought her A game as well, helping Pittman control the net with seven kills and two blocks. These two blocks add to Stone’s team record of 74 on the season.

“Let’s just go out and have fun, do the best that we can, and enjoy the team we have,” said Pittman regarding her mindset for this game.

The Mojo held this momentum for the entire match, finishing with a dominant 3-0 win and their first sweep of the season.

Coming into the match, the Mojo ranked near the top of the league in both blocks (third) and digs (second), making defense a huge part of this victory as the Mojo finished with 11 blocks and 53 digs on the night.

“We have been relying on our block defense all season long,” said Haneef-Park.“It’s something that we practice a lot, spend a lot of time with, and so we take pride in that. We knew they’ve got some really experienced hitters. They like to tool the block, they like to throw in some tips, and so if we could be disciplined in our blocking defense, we knew that we would have the advantage.”

This advantage was turned into momentum in the second set with the score tied at 19 when Pittman slammed a block down on the Fury and followed it by igniting the crowd with chest pumps in an electric show of emotion.

Going into the match, both teams were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, so this was going to be a battle of heart, and the Mojo played with that energy from start to finish.

“We talked about taking some passion into this game and some purpose into this game, and that we have a small and mighty crowd and putting on a good show for them. And I thought that’s exactly what the girls did,” said Haneef-Park.

Along with a stellar defensive performance, the Mojo’s offense came to play. The team finished with 42 kills and four aces in just three sets.

The magicians behind this performance were setter Sarah Sponcil and libero Shara Venegas, who were hitting bullseyes all night. This led to a game-high 33 assists for Sponcil along with 12 digs and three assists for Venegas.

“Every time I get out there, I get to know the hitters, and just that the environment is different in practice than it is when you’re in a game,” said Sponcil. “I think our passing was the best it’s been in a couple of matches, so I was able to ride our hitters, get our middles involved, and spread to the pin.”

The victory secures the Mojo a 3-1 series win on the season against the Fury heading into their finale match at Viejas Arena, a battle with the championship-contending Indy Ignite on Saturday, May 3 at 6:30 p.m.