Rachel Roth / Roundup
The fate of the Pierce College men’s volleyball season is on the line tonight.
Currently a dismal 1-2 in conference play, the Brahmas must win their next three matches, starting with a home game against top-ranked Long Beach College this evening, if they want to make the playoffs.
Eddie Stanislawski, head coach for the last two years, and his staff of former Brahmas — Brad Lyans and Rich Barraza — have amended the season’s goal from making it to the state championship to taking things “one game at a time.”
“When we’re stuck at this slot that we’re in, being 1-2, we can’t think about anything ahead of the next step,” Lyans said.
After jumping out to a hot 7-0 start, the Brahmas have dropped two of their last three Western State Conference games. Most recently they lost to arch-rival Moorpark College.
“The beginning of the season (doesn’t) mean anything,” Stanislawski said. “The next week and a half is going to determine our fate.”
If the Brahmas don’t win tonight, they will likely miss out on playing in the postseason for the second year in a row — something that has never happened in the history of the program.
“You can’t coach heart”
The biggest roadblock to victory appears to be the players themselves.
Stanislawski, who won a championship for Pierce in 2000, points out that his current team is the most athletic team he’s coached, which also seems to be the problem.
He has a bunch of players who are used to being in the “spotlight” position because they were the best on their high school and club teams. As a result, they are having difficulty yielding to what’s best for the Brahmas.
“We’re asking them to not think about themselves and do what’s best for the team. It’s a foreign concept to some of these guys,” he said.
Stanislawski went on to say that even though the team is loaded with talent, they lack a crucial component — heart.
“What we’re trying to get out of these guys is not the fact that they need to jump higher and hit harder, it’s (that) you need to be the correct piece that fits into the puzzle,” he said.
Lyans is worried that if the team has one more poor performance, there will be “mutiny” with a few of the players.
“They’re gonna go out and they’re gonna kill each other,” he said. “We’re spending more time refereeing the kids rather than coaching at this point. It’s like Eddie said, wrong pieces, wrong players.”
The guys on the team agree that the problem lies within their attitudes, not their ability.
Co-captains Alex Cottier and Jackson Metichecchia feel that for the Brahmas to succeed, they need to start acting like a team. Both Cottier and Metichecchia accept responsibility for the fact it hasn’t happened yet.
“That’s where I think as captains we’ve failed,” Cottier said. “We are like acquaintances that play ball together. There’s no real family. We don’t hang out other than practice. There’s just no chemistry… Especially on the court. There’s just zero camaraderie on this team.”
Jon Gurr, one of the starting opposites, concurs. He thinks there are too many individuals on the court.
“Everyone wants to do their own thing,” Gurr said. “So much talent can only go so far.”
Gurr wishes he could inspire his teammates to play better, but is quick to point out there is “not one person that needs to stand up, it’s all of us.”
“One guy can make a difference, but it takes six to win,” he said.
Cottier, who Stanislawski describes as someone who doesn’t get a ton of playing time, but is the guy who will “pick you up if you’re down and put you up on his shoulders and carry you,” would also like to see the team work harder.
“Preseason we went 7-0 (and) I think everyone just kind of thought ‘Oh, we’re good enough. We don’t need to keep working hard,'” he said. “Everyone on this team thinks mediocrity is good enough.”
“We didn’t even really work to our full potential,” Cottier added. “Sure, we were 7-0, but we were barely making it. We never really crushed a team.”
He decribes the practices leading up to tonight’s game as being “mentally tougher.” He hopes that by “disciplining an effort that’s not good enough” the coaches have instilled a new sense of discipline and responsibility in the team.
“Hopefully we can turn it around this week,” he said. “I wish I could say that with absolute confidence but we’ll see what happens.”
Soul Searching
After the most recent loss against Moorpark, the coaching staff remained in the gym for three hours to do some “soul searching.” They discussed the right personnel for the upcoming matches and the elements that need to be fixed.
They’d like to cut down on the amount of critical errors, which are missed serves, hitting errors, net violations — things the Brahmas have direct control over. They’ve even contemplated shaking up the starting line-up.
“We have to find people who are going to produce and who are going to produce in the right situations, not just when it’s easy,” Stanislawski said. “We have to have guys that, when we’re down a few, can (still) be aggressive and not take any (plays) off.”
“(Tonight) might not be the prettiest game, but we’re going to put our best foot forward and go out there and compete at the highest level we can at this point,” he added.
Game time is 7 p.m. in the South Gym. Admission is free.
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Men?s volleyball players Jon Gurr, Shaun Dryden and the rest of the team perform push-ups while Head (Jared Iorio / Roundup)
Pierce men?s volleyball player, Rodante Saballa dives for a dig during a (Jared Iorio / Roundup)
