An intensifying home game, caused the walls to tremble from the cheers of the Pierce College women’s volleyball team after defeating Mission College on Friday, Oct. 10, in the fifth set (30-28, 21-25, 19-25, 25-19, 15-9).
Pierce began the serve and Mission failed to score a point as Azeezat Anthonio and Alexandria Bowman blocked the spike from the opposing team.
Bowman earned repeated kills as she came in strong and ready towards the net in the first set.
As the scores continued to even each other out, the crowd got louder and louder.
“At first it was Mission’s crowd that was louder than ours,” said Team Captain Jessica Martinez. “But then once we got louder, it made me have more energy to share with my teammates.”
Later in the second set, teamwork was essential for Pierce as they noticed Mission fighting back with a leading score of 9-10. With strong spikes from Martinez and smooth sets from Brahma Chelsea Lawrence, Pierce sent Mission constantly diving for the ball without any comebacks.
Mission amped up its momentum and strategic kills, as they won the second set with a score of 21-25 and the third set with Pierce losing by 6.
“In the beginning it was a rough start because we won the first game but then we just lost the next two,” Martinez said.
Each time the whistle blew, Pierce huddled up for quick seconds encouraging each other and quickly strategizing ways to win the fourth set.
“We were all ready to bring our spirits back up and come today to win,” player Sofia Mastro said.
Mission was attempting to bring the numbers back on its side as they were sending over the ball with light sets and finishing spikes, making it a tie 10-10 with just minutes left. However, Pierce was dominating the court with a main attack of winning serves.
“I think we were expecting to beat them in 3, not in 5 but we’re all proud of the win nonetheless,” said Mastro.
Throughout the quick fifth set, Pierce’s momentum continued from beginning to end as they started it off stronger and louder. Anthonio made an attack, terminating the ball on the opponent’s floor, while Amber Kelly disrupted the timing of Mission’s blockers with deep sets.
“It was just great to see the team’s momentum come up to win this game because we all wanted it so bad,” said Martinez.
Coach Nabil Mardini shared his confidence in the team no matter what the outcome of each game is. He said that blocking is Pierce’s strongest strategy and what usually helps them achieve its goals.
“We obviously expect them to play really well and to play like a team,” said Mardini. “That’s what we do in practice, we prepare them for the match to be firing at all cylinders.”
Practicing every day allows them to set their goals higher each time in order to defeat other opposing teams in the future.
“The girls do a very good job at sharing information while playing a match,” Mardini said. “They’re always very focused.”
Pierce’s next game will be at Cuesta College against the Cougars on Wednesday, Oct. 15.
