Decatur’s volleyball team got a little bit closer to its first win on Wednesday, but ultimately fell in straight sets to Kentlake.

The Gators are young. From their varsity to their C-team, they only have three seniors and two juniors. The rest are freshmen and sophomores.

By comparison, the Falcons have four juniors and two seniors on their varsity squad.

“The kids are really, really young,” Decatur head coach Bob Iwasaki said. “It’s a new coaching staff. It’s a new system. They’re trying to learn to do the things the way we want to see it done and it’s just slow.”

The first and third sets were particularly close. They built a 17-14 lead in the first set, but they ran into problems when Ryleigh Burdick began serving for the Falcons. They ended up being outscored 11-1 the rest of the set, falling 25-18.

They tried to mount a rally after falling behind early in the second set, but lost 25-17.

The third set was the closest between the two teams and for awhile it looked as though the teams would be playing a fourth set.

Decatur jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the set. Blocking at the net was a big part in helping them build the lead after being hit with a few violations earlier in the match when attempting to do so.

They continued to outpace Kentlake for most of the set, but finally conceded a lead to the Falcons late in the set. Kentlake took their first lead at 18-17 in the set.

It seemed like Decatur was going to catch a bit of a break when Kentlake was hit with a substitution penalty moments later. The penalty gave the Gators a 20-19 lead.

Both teams continued to battle to a 22-22 tie in the set. It was the Falcons who scored the next three points.

The loss dropped Decatur to 0-3 in conference play and 0-8 overall.

“I’m real proud of them,” Iwasaki said. “I told the kids they have to stand before they can walk and they have to walk before they can run and they’re going to fall down every now and then.”

Decatur faced Auburn Mountainview in a non-league match on Thursday after the Mirror’s publishing deadline.

They will be at home against Todd Beamer (6-1, 3-0) at 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 7. They have already played the Titans once this season in a non-league match. They lost 3-0 on Sept. 22.