Another tough opponent, another tough performance. Unfortunately, it was another tough loss. Playing at home, the Warriors lost 9-0 against Mt. San Antonio last Thursday, their second straight loss of the season.
The Warriors’ next game will be today, when they go up against Long Beach City. The game begins at 2 p.m. at Long Beach.
“We need to work out fundamentals and strategies, and just gain experience,” Steve Van Kanegan, coach, said. “Everything needs improvement.”
Playing at home has not been much of a difference. In their last 4 games, including the preseason, 3 have been at home, 2 of which resulted in losses.
The season looks to be a work in progress. Even though the team was held scoreless, players said that it did not represent how well they’ve been playing.
“Points-wise overall, it didn’t really show how well we did,” Eunice Na, sophomore, said. Na is the only returning player from last season’s team.
Praised by both teammates and her coach, Na has taken a leadership role for the team.
“I think she takes a lot of the responsibility,” Justine McCauley, teammate, said. McCauley, who played 2 years for the team before taking last year off, said Na also organizes many activities for the team off the court as well.
Coach Van Kanegan said the team has lost several players because they were ineligible or unable to play because of prior commitments.
Going into Thursday’s game, the team knew Mt. San Antonio would be a very tough opponent. “I heard the team was really hard, but I thought we could do well against them,” McCauley said.
With the rough start to the season, the team has been showing some improvement.
Na said the team didn’t simply give Mt. San Antonio the win. They made them work for every extra point, and did really well returning the ball back.
“Carolina Mendoza is improving with each match, and everyone’s improved quite a bit” Van Kanegan said.
So far this season coach Van Kanegan has been very encouraging and has specifically worked with each player individually. “Everyone on the team is a on a different level and hopefully everyone can just improve their own game and fix their weaknesses,” Na said.
Despite the tough loss, both the coach and the team are optimistic about the rest of the season.
“We’re going to get a lot better,” McCauley said, adding that the team just needs to get more comfortable playing together.
With the rest of a long season to look forward to, the team has high hopes of turning this season into something special.
“Everyone still has a great attitude,” Van Kanegan said.