It doesn’t get any better than this. The entire season coming down to one game. One game that will determine who wins the South Coast Conference championship.

The EC women’s volleyball team took care of business last Friday night by sweeping East L.A. College 3-0 (25-12, 25-6, 25-19) thus setting up a showdown with Pasadena City College on Wednesday Nov. 20 for the conference title.

“The first time we played them we made such a big deal about how good they were and it put us down,” freshman middle blocker Boonyanudh “BJ” Jiyarom said. “Now we’re thinking there’s no need to be nervous because we are better.”

This game against ELAC had all the makings of a let-down game. The Warriors could have overlooked the Huskies and allowed them to gain some confidence but that was not the case.
The team was mentally prepared and took care of business quickly. Never allowing the Huskies to gain any real momentum while the Warriors were just firing on all cylinders.

“We just come into the game really pumped and together as a team so that we can be fluid and do what we need to do,” freshman outside hitter Laynie Thompson said.

Every player on the team has settled into their roles and the results are showing. With everyone in the right position it has become much easier to take advantage of opportunities and has lowered the risks of errors being made.

This was evident as soon as the match began, with the Warriors making a number of easy kills coupled with several errors on the Husky side. This allowed the Warriors to quickly take the first two sets of the match by a combined score of 50-18.

The third set was much closer but good teams know how to close out opponents and that’s what the Warriors did. Taking the last set 25-19.

“When everybody does their job it makes it easier,” coach Le Valley Pattison said. “Playing well as a team shows. If you are struggling in one position you struggle as a team.”

Freshman middle blocker Kimberly Haney had the most kills of the night with 9 and 2 digs followed by sophomore setter SueKalena Tafao who registered 8 kills and 12 digs.

Freshman defensive specialist Courtney Eppler and sophomore outside hitter Ashley Morimoto also carried the load on defensive with 12 digs for Eppler and 11 digs for Morimoto.

“We have a lot of confidence in each other,” Eppler said. “If anyone gets down we all help each other up.”

In the last 15 games the Warriors have gone 14-1, with that one loss coming to PCC. The players will look to avoid making the same mistakes that cost them the last game. Two things are certain though, both teams will come out fired up and this game will be nothing short of epic.

“Honestly, I feel I should take full responsibility,” Tafao said on that last loss. “They were looking to me and I wasn’t converting. So this time around it’s not going to be that close.”

Editor’s Note: This is the final issue of the EC Union for the fall semester. To continue reading about the EC women’s volleyball and keep up with their upcoming playoff run, check out the EC Union website. There you will find the results and recap of Wednesday’s game against PCC and all playoff games.