The Associated Student Organization (ASO) hosted a pregame tailgate on Wednesday, providing food and refreshments to both Mission and Pierce College women’s volleyball teams and guests outside the Brahmadome.
The Tailgate is a tradition established for many home games since spring 2016. Student Engagement Coordinator Lara Conrady Wong has been alternating the tailgate with both men and women sports throughout the semester to support each team.
Wednesday’ tailgate game saw a familiar face with the coach of the Mission College Eagles, Nabil Mardini who led the Brahmas in their glory days for 17 years before being let go in 2017. Under his leadership, the Pierce women’s volleyball team received 15 conference titles and three state titles.
Despite the controversy surrounding the end of his tenure, Coach Mardini held no grudges and was happy to return to his home campus.
“It’s always good to come back and look at the pictures on the wall and talk to people I know who I’ve built relationships with,” Mardini said before the game.
While the coach looked forward to a challenging match from the Brahmas, the team was never able to pick up enough ground game to outmatch the Eagles. The first set remained tight between the two teams though both of them made many long shots out-of-bounds. The star player for the Eagles was outside hitter Jaya Davison who scored the most kills for the game with a seasonal 4.13 K/S ratio.
Woodland Hills, Calif., on Oct. 11, 2023. The Pierce Brahmas lost 3-0 in straight sets (25-18, 25 14, 25-14). Photo by Luis Quintana.
Davison scored the last hit of the set 18-25.
Things did not improve for the Brahmas for the remaining sets, both resulting 14-25. The team was plagued by many calls from the referees over double violations.
The game ended 0-3 going to Mission College.
The top scoring player of the Brahmas was outside hitter Lilly Gulley who maintains a 2.41 K/S ratio and said there is much to work on.
“I think our defense definitely has room for improvement especially with our blocking. We need to work on reading the sets,” Gulley said post-game.
The Brahmas are scheduled to face off against the Moorpark College Raiders in their next away game on Oct. 13 at 6 pm.
