With an inspirational note clipped to Richard Blount’s clipboard, emotions were high as the men’s volleyball team chanted “beat Pierce.” A point away from victory, Hunter Hovland, outside hitter, put up a huge block at the net and the Warriors defended home court.
Full of emotion, the Warriors stormed the court to celebrate a conference win.
“We had an emotional lift tonight,” Richard Blount, coach of the men’s volleyball team said. “My mom died a few years ago the night we played Pierce in this house, so I had this as a memento from that time and I told my guys the story so we had my mom on our shoulders tonight.”
Not only were the Warriors playing for Blount’s mother, the team had its sights set on winning the match for Blount’s father who has been ill. The message Blount’s father sent to the team right before the game included two words; beat Pierce.
“We were mostly playing for our coach’s dad,” Hovland said. “He wrote us a message saying “beat Pierce” so every chant we had we said “beat Pierce” because that’s what he wanted.”
The Warriors improve to 1-2 in conference play with a 5-4 season record as the team travels to Moorpark College on Wednesday.
Leading in the first game, the Warriors took control of the game behind the play of Race Munger, middle hitter, who had 15 blocks on the night. The team took the game outright 25-17.
“It was a must win game for us and we had to come out as strong as possible,” Hovland said.
The second game started out strong with a kill by Nick Dimarco, opposite hitter, but it quickly became a back and forth battle between teams as the Warriors lost their ground 25-23.
“Our passing was bad and we didn’t connect as a team,” Jonathon Pettit, libero, said.
With a strong 10-5 lead behind the service of Kyle Burgoyne, outside hitter, the Warriors’ strong passing game gave them the advantage in the third game. Hovland dominated the net throughout the game, racking up 19 kills on the match, and ended the game with a kill to win 25-17.
Momentum quickly changed direction in the forth game as Pierce College (PC) came out strong. The game was neck and neck as Spencer Fournell, middle hitter, put up a huge block but the Warriors couldn’t finish and lost 25-23.
“We thought PC would come out tentative and we could just cruise by them,” Pettit said.
As the Warriors took the court in the fifth game, the crowd was behind them the whole way. With the game tied, Dimarco fell to the ground after being hit by the volleyball but got right back up and racked up three crucial kills, giving him 18 kills on the night, to give the Warriors the lead and a win 15-13.
“We wanted it more, we just wanted it more overall,” Dimarco said. “We needed this win.”
After the game, Blount held his cell phone high above the team’s huddle with his father on the other end and the players shouted “we beat Pierce.”
“If we play as strong as we did in the first game against PC, we will win,” Pettit said.
