Pierce’s Mertes Injures Elbow in Volleyball

Lori Mertes, one of the top junior college athletes in the state, suffered a dislocated right elbow while playing for the Pierce College women’s volleyball team against host Golden West on Wednesday night.

Mertes jammed her right hand on the gymnasium floor while attempting a dig, Pierce Coach Steve Gazzaniga said Thursday. Golden West, the defending state champion, defeated Pierce, 15-3, 15-6, 15-5.

“She’s going to be gone a while,” Gazzaniga said. “The doctor said at least two to three weeks. And it was still too swollen for him to see any bone chips or another problem that might be there, so it could be six to eight weeks.”

The severity of the injury became apparent almost immediately. “They had a lot of trouble popping it back in,” Gazzaniga said. “There was one guy on her forearm and another guy on her upper arm and they were both pulling. It was not a pretty sight.”

Mertes is considered the best player for Pierce, a perennial playoff team.

“Now we get to see if all the stuff I’ve been saying about how deep we are is really true,” Gazzaniga said. “This is not exactly the way I wanted to find out.”

Mertes, a sophomore, also is a top high jump athlete. Competing in track and field for Valley because Pierce does not field a team, she placed sixth with a jump of 5-2 in last season’s state championships.

She was the City Section champion in the high jump in 1990 while at Chatsworth High.