Kirsten Sharaf
The Pierce College men’s volleyball team lost its second consecutive game Thursday, coming up short against Long Beach Community College, 3-0, and intensifying the pressure to make playoffs.
Fresh out of a loss against Moorpark College, the Brahmas were hoping to make a comeback but instead fell prey to what head coach Ed Stanislawski called “simple mistakes that should not happen.”
The Brahmas got off to a rocky start when they were down for the majority of the first set but were able to bring the score to a tie at 22, thanks in large part to LBCC’s frequent net violations. The free points were still not enough and Pierce lost the first set, 30-26.
Members of the Pierce team pulled themselves together and managed to grab a short-lived lead during the second set, with the Vikings and the Brahmas going point-for-point until LBCC ultimately won, 30-25. The third set was especially short and ended with another victory for the Vikings, 30-17.
Freshman Javael Boykins had a stand-out game, leading the team with 12 kills and two aces.
“His job is to go out there and swing hard and he did,” Stanislawski said. “He’s been doing a consistently good job.”
Despite his efforts, Boykins thinks the team needs to step up its efforts in the fight for playoff contention.
“We win as a team, we lose as a team,” Boykins said. “We have a lot to learn and it just puts more pressure on us.”
The Brahmas need to win every game from here on out to be in consideration for playoffs.
“We are on the bottom and we have to fight like dogs to get back on top,” Boykins said. “The season is not over and we are not about to give up.”
Second-year student Jon Gurr has shown consistency throughout the season as well and Thursday’s game was no exception. But even with 11 kills under his belt for that game, he knows it is going to take more to make playoffs.
“We are always worried — that is the whole point of playoffs and we all know what we have to do,” Gurr said. “We are all trying for the same goal.”
The Brahmas made a lot of unfortunate “common” errors which resulted in a three-set loss. Pierce suffered several communication errors and had 17 service errors versus their opponents’ four service errors.
“We put ourselves in this spot,” Stanislawski said. “That is one of our weaknesses.”
The Brahmas are hoping that practice will make perfect in time for their home game Friday against Santa Barbara City College.
