The open indoor volleyball league began regular-season competition Thursday at Smith Fitness Center as A-Team defeated the Hard Knocks 21-15, 21-18.

The first set became a back-and-forth scoring affair early on before the A’s gained momentum by going on an 11-3 run after trailing 12-10.

The A’s may have gained that momentum when the rotation favored their two male players at the attack position in the front row.

“I think our guys made us a stronger team,” A-Team captain Deb Rubio said. “That gave us a little more consistent hitting.”

The second set was a more consistent, tighter battle as the A-Team fought to seal the match, leading 18-17. The A’s again found momentum on their side at the right time as they clinched the match with a 3-1 run. Rubio said good communication was key in the first match of the season.

“We played good when we communicated and we might have let them get a couple of points when we didn’t,” she said.

Lack of communication led to frustration for the Hard Knocks, especially at critical points.

“We stopped communicating, we weren’t consistent with our serves and towards the end some of the team was lost with the rotation,” Hard Knocks team captain Madelaine Mendiola said.

“It’s our first time playing with everyone. Communication is a huge thing. If no one is communicating, then the whole team goes down. The reason we weren’t getting to the ball was because no one was calling for the ball. Next game we’ll be more prepared about it.”

At one point in the first set, the Hard Knocks failed to rotate correctly, which resulted in a loss of serve and a point for the A-Team.

“They were very unfamiliar with the 6-2 rotation,” Mendiola said.

“We’re probably going to change the lineup from 6-2 to 5-1 and have just one setter. Having two setters was a little confusing to the team.”

The open indoor volleyball league will continue Thursday at Kefurt Fitness Center with the first set of matches beginning at 6 p.m. Team 2 will play Team 5 while the Hard Knocks face off against Team 3.