The Pierce College Women’s Volleyball team earned a third-place finish at the sixteen-team San Diego Mesa Invitational, on Friday Sept. 19 and Saturday Sept. 20 at San Diego Mesa College.
The sixteen teams were divided into two groups of eight. Each team played three matches over the weekend. Pierce opened the tournament with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-21) win against host Mesa on Friday.
“We played clean volleyball,” said Coach Nabil Mardini. “The girls played with a lot of energy and enthusiasm, and were scrappy in the back row.”
Pierce played two matches on Saturday. They lost their first match against Chaffey 3-1 (25-20, 25-23, 23-25, 25-18), but bounced back later in the day with a 3-1 (20-25, 25-18, 25-23, 25-23) win against Glendale (AZ).
Chaffey played a different, more patient style of volleyball than Pierce was used to, according to Mardini. He said they played patiently and waited for Pierce to make errors.
“They play non-traditionally,” Mardini said. “Our girls were having a hard time adjusting.”
But Pierce adjusted after the loss to close out the tournament with a win against Glendale (AZ), which is a community college that offers their athletes’ scholarships.
“They have some big-time players,” Mardini said. “We played even better than we played against Mesa.”
The next game for the team will be on Friday, Oct. 10 against Mission College at Pierce. The game will begin at 7 p.m.
