The Milpitas High School varsity girls volleyball team fell victim to its own inconsistent play and suffered losses on three consecutive nights last week.

The Trojans traveled to Mount Pleasant High School last Tuesday and lost a difficult four-set match. They had several opportunities at game-point in the first game, leading 24-20 before dropping the game 29-27.

"We let that first game slip away," Coach Jeff Lamb said. "We had the game and then we gave up four straight points. And all four points were on mistakes by us, not plays that they made. And instead of shaking it off, we came out flat in the second game."

Milpitas fought back to make the second game competitive, but fell short 25-21. They responded well in the third game, with a solid 25-18 win, but had another poor start in the fourth game.

"We came out flat in the second game, but what was our reason for coming out flat in the fourth game? We had just come off a game where we played great," said Lamb.

After falling behind 9-2 in the fourth game, a furious Trojans rally fell short 25-23. Senior Megan Montelius led the team with 20 kills for the match.

Though Milpitas' lack of size put them at a disadvantage against the bigger players from Notre Dame High School last Wednesday, Lamb said that the Trojans competed well. Notre Dame won the match in straight sets, but Milpitas was ahead at some point in each game before losing the lead.

Against Leigh High School at home last Thursday, the

"We have this reoccurring theme going right now: We can't play well for an entire match," Lamb said.

Milpitas took the first game 25-22, and jumped out to 12-5 lead in the second game before errors helped Leigh go on a scoring streak.

"We make mistakes, and we can't seem to get out of funks," Lamb said. "Instead of putting it behind us, we seem to dwell on it. Then, boom! Now we're in real trouble."

Leigh won the next three games and the match. Senior Angela Farin led the Trojans in kills for the second consecutive match with 11.

Lamb hoped the team would improve its communication in time for its league-opener at home against Monta Vista Tuesday night. Results were too late for press.

The Trojans' next game is tonight at 6:45 p.m. at Cupertino High School.