Pierce College women’s volleyball team ended their regular season on the right foot by beating Citrus College in straight sets (25-19, 25-15, and 25-14) on Thurs. night at Pierce College.
The 2011 Brahmas, who are ranked #1 in the state, stay undefeated throughout the regular season (27-0, 12-0 in conference), as they gear up for home court advantage in the playoffs.
“27-0 feels great,” said Pierce head coach Nabil Mardini. “We just have to keep the celebration short and focus on the playoffs.”
Although Mardini wants to look forward to the playoffs, which begin on Tuesday evening at Pierce, Thursday night was also about honoring the sophomores.
Five sophomores were honored prior to the last conference home game, including Sofia Granato, Jasmine Levi, Shayna Guitare, Kathleen Wright and Veronika Ban.
“It’s kind of sad,” said Levi who had 11 kills and 3 blocks against Citrus. “We’ve been through so much as a team the past two years.”
In the past two years the Pierce volleyball team has become state champions and has only dropped three games during their perfect regular season.
“It feels awesome to know all the hard work we contributed is paying off,” said Wright. “It’s nice to know that we can walk into the playoffs 27-0.”
Their hard work also has not only payed off during the season but also in their game against Citrus.
The only set that was relatively competitive was the first game.
“They gave us a little run for our money,” said Wright who led the Brahmas with 17 digs. “They executed their plan of attack really well.”
Citrus College ends their season with a conference record of 6-6.
“We tried to hang in there,” said Citrus head coach Shin Jung. “Pierce will bring out all the errors and mistakes that opponents make, that’s why they’re so great.”
“When you play a team as good as Pierce, you have to have a perfect match, you have to play a perfect set,” continued Jung.
One reason Citrus had a hard time staying in the game was freshman outside hitter Danetta Boykin who led the Brahmas with 13 kills.
“We started off kind of slow and shaky but once we got comfortable and got together we played our game,” said Boykin. “We’re coming together as a team and it’s starting to look really good and really promising.”
The Brahmas will have to continue to play as a team as they begin their quest as back-to-back state champions when they face Antelope Valley College on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
“We are certainly not going to let up,” said Wright. “We’re going to push even harder in practice and make sure we’re ready for playoffs.”
Antelope Valley College will be coming into the playoffs as a 16th seed.
The winner will go on to face either San Diego Mesa or Orange Coast who are seeded eighth and ninth respectively.
http://info.piercecollege.edu/departments/athletics/wnvolley.html
