The women’s volleyball team defeated the Moorpark College Raiders at Ken Stanley Court (25-20, 23-25, 25-16, 25-12) to improve their overall record to 13-5.
The Raiders took the lead allowing them to gain a slight advantage against the Brahmas in the beginning of the first set. Once the score was tied at seven, the Brahmas took over and won the first set.
It was a one point game throughout the second set in which Moorpark College won 25-23.
In the third and fourth set, the Brahmas dominated as they shrugged off losing the second set.
Head Coach Nabil Mardini mentioned the team played good enough to get the win over the Raiders.
“We played okay. We played good enough to win, especially in the third and fourth game,” Mardini said.
Mardini mentioned the team struggled with their serve and they need to continue to work on that and their side out game.
“I think once we relaxed, we started setting the ball better and the hitters were jumping and hitting instead of being tentative. We were tentative at first but then we picked it up,” Mardini said.
Assistant Coach Veronika Ban said that even though the team didn’t do as well in the second set, they ended strong. She said that is was great to see the girls rebound after that second set and how they came together in the end and took care of their side.
According to Ban, the team’s biggest struggle was getting their offense going and balancing it out.
“It took a little bit to get Cairo Harrell going but it was good to see her rebounding from not doing so well in the beginning of the match to then turning it on,” Ban said. “Cairo came alive for us in the second part of the match.”
Seeing how the girls bounced back and focused on what they needed to do to come back was something that stood out to Ban.
Ban also mentioned that passing was great toward the end which allowed them to run the middle blockers and Tallie Monsalve and the rest of the back court did a good job getting good passes for their hitters.
“The girls communicate really well so we talk about what needs to improve and what we are doing well on. There is always room for improvement so we are looking forward to getting back to work,” Ban said.
Victoria Estes said overall they played well but their biggest struggle against Moorpark was reading the other team and being wide enough on the block.
“Next time we will do better by maintaining and sustaining our play and not looking at our opponent as our opponent. They are just another team on the other side,” Estes said.
Harrell mentioned that it was tough trying to control the Raiders’ block and the team had to focus on protecting their defense.
“I would love to see us bring that over to our following games. We do have trouble with that so if we bring that over, everything will be splendid,” Harrell said.
The energy and the confidence the team was giving her made Harrell feel like she was able to perform well.
“The best thing about our team is how good we are with our unity. Of course we have problems. Every team does, but the way we come back together is really nice,” Harrell said.
The Brahmas will be playing in Santa Maria against Allan Hancock College on Friday at 6 p.m.
