Charlie Kaloustian
For the second year in a row the Pierce College women’s volleyball team has advanced to the Elite Eight state championships in Fresno where they will face West Valley College (22-5) Friday in the first round of the championship weekend.
Fresh off a victory in the first round against San Bernardino Valley Nov. 30, Pierce faced their toughest match yet Saturday against fifth-seeded Cerritos College.
“It’s all character. Those girls you saw made the right plays at the right time,” said coach Nabil Mardini.
“But we never choked. I thought (in) that game we lost they [Cerritos] just made the right plays. But we never gave up. That’s the sign of a great team. I can’t be any prouder.”
While defeating Cerritos College was no easy hurdle, they defeated them in four matches, 30-24, 32-30, 27-30, 30-27, only losing the third match to Cerritos persistent defense
In a sense, Athletic Director Bob Lyons said he felt that this women’s volleyball team is playing at such a high level because of the combination of talent, determination, control and good coaching.
“Nabil deserves credit. He works them hard and they respond to that,” said Lyon. “They’re well-disciplined, well-drilled and they’re here because they want to play volleyball, not mess around.”
But on the flipside, Cerritos coach Ali Carey wasn’t too happy going home this early in the playoffs since they had just eliminated 12-time defending state champion Golden West in the first round.
“We didn’t play at 100 percent,” said an emotional Carey. “I think Pierce is a good team and if we played like we did on Wednesday we would have come on top tonight, but it just wasn’t in the cards.”
“I expected a fight and I thought it would be competitive,” she said. “All my hitters were second guessing themselves and instead of playing they were over thinking a lot of things.”
In the first game, stealing the early lead at 6-5, Pierce never looked back with a 30-24 game win.
But the second game looked dismal for the Brahmas since Cerritos led up until 29-28 when Pierce rallied to win, 32-30.
At this point the South gym was a packed house and with every volley, dig or block shot, some fans were holding their breaths. The emotion and tension hung in the air so thick you could cut it with a knife.
Heading into the third match, it was evident that the Cerritos team was not going to give up.
Pierce, fresh off the huge win, immediately took the lead and lost it just as fast at 2-3. With the pesky defense of Cerritos, scoring for the Brahmas became difficult at times.
Pierce didn’t regain the lead until the score was 25-24.
With only five points needed to go to state, the instant offense wasn’t good enough to pull away in a stunning loss, 27-30.
In the fourth game, the Brahmas displayed why they are the five-time Western State Conference Champions.
Taking the lead at 6-5, the Cerritos team just could not keep up. At one point the Brahmas were on a six-point run and there was no looking back.
The Cerritos pressure came too late in the match when they tried to rally at game point, 29-23. But even with opportunity knocking at the door, Pierce could not answer to seal the game until the last moment.
“It’s not like we were making any mistakes. We were swinging away and they [Cerritos] were just making the right plays,” Mardini said about the Game-Point situation. “If we’re making mistakes then I would say were choking right now, but we’re not. We’re swinging away; they’re digging putting the ball in.”
With the game on the line and the crowd was on its feet, freshman co-captain Kristin “Stormin” Gorman took the set ball and crashed it into the Cerritos defender that was unable to keep the ball in play, winning the game 30-27.
Gorman lead the team with 16 kills, hosted a block party at the net with three stuff blocks and had one serving ace.
“We pulled it together and got it done,” said Gorman. “So far, we’ve proven that our youth doesn’t matter. I think we can win it all.”
Notable performances from the Pierce squad were: Katie O’Connell, who had 14 kills and two serving aces; Ebony Tidwell with nine kills and one serving ace; co-captain Meredith Rice with one stuff block and two serving aces; Jackie Tomas with two stuff blocks and three serving aces and Allison Tosch, who had seven kills and three stuff blocks.
With a deep bench, freshmen Carmen Lopez, Luisa Umana and Melanie Lazovich all supplied the team with versatile on-court character and contributed to the victory.
As for Mardini, his game plan is the same. Practice makes perfect and there’s still lots of work to be done.
“We don’t come wanting to get one or two percent better. We’re not going to do well with that attitude,” Mardini said.
“My players are a bunch of warriors. That’s what I like about them. They go out there and battle.”