Pierce kills competition

Volleyball’s offense on full display as team takes first place in Pierce Brahma

KRISTINA VILLAMIL Reporter @krisvillamil and CHRISTOPHER ESCOBAR Assistant Sports Editor @cescobar46

[From VOLLEYBALL

Pierce Brahmas’ coaching staff was happy with the win, but admitted they did not play their best.

“It wasn’t our best volleyball,” said first season Assistant Coach Kristin Dolan. “I think that the girls persevered, pushed through and worked together to come up with a victory.”

Head Coach Mardini also shares the same judgement.

“It was an ugly win, a lot of errors,” said Mardini. “Tomorrow’s game I thinkwe’ll play better.

During a four set match in the second round, the first seeded Brahmas beat fourth seed Bakersfield College. The first two matches moved quickly as Pierce College dominated offensively on the court. They gained the lead early on in the first set with a score of 13-4 and within minutes brought the lead to 23-11.

With a strong finish to the first set, 25-12, Pierce held their offensive stance winning a rally that brought the score to 10-3. The team won the second set as smooth as the first with a score of 25-13.

Schedule

Sept. 30 to Oct. 7

Water Polo

Wednesday, Sept. 30 at Santa Monica, 3:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Oct. 7 vs. LA Valley, 3:30 p.m.

Soccer

Friday, Oct. 2 vs Moorpark, 4 p.m.

Tuesday, Oct. 6 at Chaffey, 4 p.m.

Football

Saturday, Oct. 3 vs. West LA, 6 p.m.

Volleyball

Wednesday, Sept. 30 vs. Santa Monica, 6 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 2 at Moorpark, 6 p.m.

Wednesday, Oct. 7 at Santa Barbara, 6 p.m.

Invitational

Bakersfield stayed competitive and proved to be challenging during the third set however, when the Brahmas fell behind for the first time in the match at 5-6. As the score remained tight, with most of the third set being a tie, Head Coach Nabil Mardini became more vocal in directing the team. Despite player efforts, Pierce lost the third set 25-27.

This small set back did nothing to sway the lady Brahmas. They returned into the fourth set with fierce intention. Middle blocker Shanon Volpis says that Brahma Volleyball is different than most, “ We give a hundred percent every play every day. And I think that today that was our main focus.” Defense played its part in the fourth set of match with a couple of digs to keep the ball in play. Staring off close at 8-6, the Brahmas pulled ahead in the middle of the set to win three of four sets total with a final score of 25-10.

The win was definitely a team effort. According to Azeezat Anthonio who also plays middle blocker, the team often spends time together off the court, and that she said “is really important.”

“When we are close off the court then we want to play for each other on the court. You can throw anyone in and the chemistry is still strong,” Anthonio said.

With such short time between back-to-back games the competition doesn’t faze the volleyball team. Head coach Nabil Mardini says that it is something the team is used to. “We train to be in situations like this, where we’ve got to be physically conditioned, and we’ve done it before.”

The Brahmas finished the tournament by defeating the Mesa College Olympians by a score of 3-0(25-10, 25-17, 25-22) at the South Gym on Saturday, Sept. 26.

The Brahmas started the game off with confidence as the Olympians were no match for their incredible offense and defense.

As the first set came in, the Brahmas had an outstanding performance with a result of seven kills, two aces, and two blocks. From there, the Brahmas started it’s momentum at a high level.

During the second set, the Olympians also made momentum of its own, but sophomore Libero Darrin Rice assisted the Brahmas by making great saves and taking hard hits.

“Some of the digs were not as pretty as I would like, but definitely I liked how I helped my team out,” Rice said.

With the Brahma’s excellent strategy, all they needed was one more set to win.

In the third set, the Olympians got its momentum back as they started off good with a 1-6 lead.

After watching the scoreboard, head coach Nabil Mardini called a timeout to think of another way to overcome their mistakes.

As they resumed the game, nothing made a difference as the Brah- mas were making mistakes such as hitting the ball out of bounds or miscommunication with each other.

Mardini then called another timeout as the Brahmas were trailing 15-19. The Brahmas were almost in panic mode but the game started to turn around when sophomore setter Rachel Lods came in to serve.

Lods made five straight successful serves, including three aces to add to the board.

“It felt good bringing up my teammates confidence,” Lods said. “We were in that third set a little bit nervous and timid, so I feel like I really helped all of them regain their confidence and just go after it in the end.”

After the help from Lods, the Brahmas were able to respond by making extreme kills and blocking hits.

As the final score came out 2522, the Brahmas were able to keep its streak going and to remain undefeated.

Mardini is loving the performance of the team, even if they make some of mistakes but that will always be included in all games.

“The goal is to not keep the streak alive, the goal is to go all the way whether we drop a match here and there,” Mardini said. “What’s important is that we want to be good in December.”

The Brahmas will go against Santa Monica College at home on Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 6 p.m.