The Brahmas defeated the El Camino College Warriors in a high-scoring, five-set thriller on Friday March 3.
After two consecutive losses, the players on the men’s volleyball team brought the effort needed and rose to victory.
According to head coach Lance Walker, this game was a turning point for the season.
“No matter what happens next, I think these guys are going to remember this game forever,” Walker said.
Outside hitter Trenton Sellers led the way for the Brahmas in the first set. The team worked as a whole to block the Warriors’ attempts at clearing the net.
While they faced minor setbacks against El Camino’s tough defense, the Brahmas won the first set 25-23.
Throughout the second set, the Brahmas had a harder time keeping up with the Warriors. Even with a kill and an ace by Sellers and strong serves from Blake Omartian, the teams were tied at 26.
The second set would continue until El Camino finally took control and won the set 35-33.
El Camino’s opposite hitter Kenton Smith and middle blocker Peter Nordel made the Brahmas work hard in the third set. The Brahmas attempted to strengthen their defense, but had trouble stopping the Warriors from scoring. The Warriors took the third set 29-27.
The Brahmas came back in the fourth set with Sellers and Max Petuhov giving the Brahmas the initial lead. Service errors by the Warriors and consistent teamwork from the Brahmas helped the team win the fourth set 25-15.
The fifth and final set returned to the close, back-and-forth match up of the first three sets.
A nail-biter for the final point ended with Jadrien Wiser meeting two Warriors blockers at the net and winning the battle, giving the Brahmas the deciding set 17-15.
Walker congratulated the team after the game was over, commending them for their hard work against a strong, well-respected team.
“I think that in the seven years that I’ve been coaching here, we haven’t beat El Camino once,” Walker said. “But tonight we brought the gun to the gun fight, which was awesome.”
Sellers was also satisfied with the team’s win after losses to Long Beach City College and Santa Monica College. He said that the losses motivated them to work harder.
“We had a little bit of a chip on our shoulder,” Sellers said. “We had something to prove to ourselves and the rest of the league that’s watching us, and we did.”
Opposite hitter Brandon Oswald said that the Brahmas emphasized teamwork for this game.
“We wanted to come out as a team tonight,” Oswald said. “I think it really showed, especially with our energy.”
Sellers said that he thinks the team will continue to improve over the course of the season.
“We have a lot of great individual talent on our team,” Sellers said. “When we all gel together, we’re going to be a force.”
The Brahmas’ next game is at Grossmont College on Wednesday, March 8, at 6 p.m.
