Kevin Peyton / Roundup
After losing the first set, 17-25, the Pierce College women’s volleyball team went on to take three consecutive sets against the Corsairs of Santa Monica College in a matchup of Western State Conference Southern Division rivals.
The Brahmas won the sets 25-7, 25-20 and 25-14, consecutively.
Head coach Nabil Mardini called the team’s performance “outstanding.”
“We did a good job of taking Santa Monica out of their system,” Mardini said. “That’s key in volleyball.”
In a game in which both teams displayed tremendous energy and effort, both Mardini and asistant coach Brad Lyans were happy with the effort their players put into the game.
“I am very, very happy,” Mardini said. “We haven’t played like this in a long time.”
After dropping the first set, the Lady Brahmas went on to rout the Corsairs in the second set.
“I had a good feeling we were going to win this match after that performance,” Lyans said.
Mardini credits the team’s second guessing of themselves for the slow start in the first set.
“They second guess themselves, and they lose confidence, and they don’t play their game. When you don’t second guess yourself and you trust your instincts, you are going to be OK,” he said. “That was the key. As soon as they built confidence they fed off each other and they just played hard.”
“They gave us a little scare in the first game,” Lyans said. “The last three sets we were loose. We served tough.”
The Lady Brahmas took a 10-5 advantage in the third set after a long rally was finished on a kill from Megan McKee. A Corsairs comeback would be in the works, however, cutting the lead to 12-10 and forcing a Pierce timeout. The Lady Brahmas would eventually emerge victorious from the set.
The Lady Brahmas record improves to 5-11 overall and 1-2 in conference play. The Corsairs, meanwhile, fell to 2-9 overall and 0-4 in conference. Pierce had lost four consecutive games heading into the contest.
When asked if this victory could be a turning point in his team’s season, Mardini replied, “I hope so. With all the injuries, it’s been a bad year.”
“The conference has not been won yet,” Lyans said. “We’re only three matches into this conference. We’re now 1-2. If we build from this point, [we] easily, easily could win the conference.”
Pierce Sophomore Brooke McFerren led the evening with 18 kills, followed by freshman Reanna Hill, who contributed 13 kills.
The Lady Brahmas hit the road yesterday to face off against Bakersfield before returning home to take on West L.A. College Friday.
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