Volleyball season woes continued for the Brahmas as they lost to the Santa Barbara City College Vaqueros in straight sets (25-19, 25-10, and 25-20).
The Brahmas showed grit in the first and third sets, but the Vaqueros were able to maintain the lead.
Pierce head coach Edison Zhou said the team had to play smart and highlighted the importance of a good mindset. He spoke about some of the disadvantages for the Brahmas.
“We are kind of like the shortest team in the league, but we have to be the smartest. Otherwise, we have zero chance to win any set,” Zhou said, “We use different volleyball weapons to score points. We play in different ways with different teams.”
The Brahmas started strong with a contentious first set. They were up in points for a large part of it, only to then lose the edge about two-thirds of the way through.
Losing the first set sent the Brahmas into a downward spiral as the second set was much less competitive.
Assistant coach Farzad Ramin talked about the team’s strengths and the key points in the game that solidified the outcome. He identified the exact moment when the team started to fall behind.
“The first set and the third set, we played very well. The passing was there, the defense was there, and the encouragement was there, but in the second set, we lost the energy,” Ramin said.
After the second set, Zhou took the team into the locker room to present some wise words to the team
“The game’s not finished. If you’re upset, there’s nothing you can do to change the result,” Zhou said, “Bring the energy back to the court. You can be mad and want to fight, but if you’re upset, I’m going to just switch you out.”
Team captain and middle blocker Alireza Manizani Reasserted the importance of bringing a positive mindset to the court.
He spoke about some of the ramifications of this loss and what the team will have to do to get back on track.
“I think we have to work as hard as we can, even harder than we have before because none of us want to go through a season where we are just going to continue losing,” Manizani said, “Whatever it’s going to take to get us our first win.”
The consensus was that playing smart and doing whatever it takes will secure the teams’ first win of the season.
Brahmas dropped overall to 0-5 in conference games. They host El Camino College on Wednesday before traveling to Antelope Valley. Both games start at 6 p.m.