Rachel Roth, Spring 2009 Staff Writer
His team is now 26-1, first in the state and the Western State Conference and hasn’t lost a home game since 2002.
For Nabil Mardini, head coach of Pierce College’s women’s volleyball team, it isn’t time to relax.
“One step at a time,” Mardini said before his team face Bakersfield College Friday night. “(Bakersfield) is a very good team, very well coached. They are going to be ready to play us tonight and we’ve got to be ready to go.”
And ready they were – mostly.
After Gracie Shedd, a second year setter who is redshirting the season to “get more experience” sang the National Anthem, the Brahmas easily beat the Bakersfield Renegades 25-14 in the first game of the night.
They opened the game with six unanswered points, four of those coming from freshman phenom Sarah Martin.
“I thought game one got away form us early,” said Renegades Head Coach Carl Ferreira. “We made too many mistakes.”
The Renegades rebounded in the second and third games of the night by stepping up their serving game.
“The serve/receive was not very good,” Mardini said. “I thought they did a really good job serving and it took us out of our game.”
The improved serving, which Ferria said “stabalized” his team and allowed them to “get into the match” wasn’t enough. Pierce won game two 25-19 and game three 25-20.
“Sarah Martin was very, very difficult for us to deal with tonight. I thought she was outstanding in both serving and attacking,” he said.
Martin, an outside hitter, had 15 points on 21 attempts and no errors for the evening.
“I try to look and see what’s open on the court, aim for that spot and try to put as much power behind (my swing) as I possibly can,” Martin said of her style of play. “But it’s (not just) because of me, Terry (Soltani)set well.”
Soltani, who leads the WSC in assists, had 43 for the night — a stat Assistant Coach Brad Lyans calls “amazing” for a match that only went to three games — also made it difficult for the Renegades to put away games two and three.
“(Terry) does a spectacular job running their offense. Their hitters are very powerful and they are a very disciplined team,” Ferria said after the game.
Vanessa Murray, opposite, had 11 points, Lisa Sonnenblick contributed eight and Janet Alvarado added seven. Natasha Wilroy had four points for the night and a team-high .800 percent hitting average.
Pierce was without their 6-foot middle Brooke McFerren, who had to sit due to a pulled muscle. She is projected to return sometime next week.
Up next for the Brahmas is a home game against West Los Angeles College on Tuesday. The game starts at 7 p.m.