Men’s volleyball bounced back from a midweek loss against Irvine Valley College with a victory over the Grossmont College Griffins.
Led by captain and state assists leader Bernardo Roese, The No. 8 Brahmas (5-6) sent Grossmont back to San Diego in straight sets (25-20, 25-15, 25-20).
Roese notched 38 assists in the three sets, with Cole Chea putting up 12 kills, followed by Jake Kessler and Brent Norkus with 10 and seven respectively.
For the Griffins, Kaman Curtis had 10 kills, followed by Matthew Perez with five and Treavor Detteh with four.
Head Coach Lance Walker said the team’s dedication, focus and progress showed in the game. He also said that the team must play like they want it, which is something that attributed to their win.
“The chemistry of the team was fantastic,” Walker said. “Energy level was great. I thought the guys did a really good job of staying positive. Good positive energy we had coming from the bench, on the court – I just mean overall and that just helps our team one or two points.”
Chea said that one of their strategies for this game was to utilize control of the ball and move it around before hitting it over the net.
“We all just came together for passing,” Chea said. “We focused priority on the passing first – that really won us the game.”
Max Petuhov, opposite hitter, said that the synchronization of the team made their win against Grossmont possible.
Roese had a kill that gave the team a win in the first set and in the third set, Petuhov was able to execute a kill as Blake Omartian and Roese were involved in the buildup, which helped extend the lead for the Brahmas.
Petuhov said the players are working on team bonding.
“We had a few problems in the past with working together as a team,” Petuhov said. “Today we became a lot better together – we’ve been working on doing some family stuff. We try to hang out as a team, we get to practice earlier and just spend time together.”
Walker said that the win was the result of the team’s concentration and growth from past games.
“We played with purpose and we played with focus, which was something that we worked on,” Walker said. “Understanding what rotation we’re in – ‘How can we win this point?’ ‘How can we win this play?’ ‘How can we can we get the serve back on to our side and use it as a weapon?’”
Chea said that the team learns from each game, regardless of the result.
“Relative to tonight, it’s just a whole evolution,” Chea said. “Every time we grow and every time we play or lose, it’s a learning experience. We want to show every time we get on the court that we learn something new.”
The Brahmas next game is on Friday, March 16, hosting the Moorpark College Raiders at 6 p.m.
