Things were looking good for the Warriors.
A comeback win in the first set gave them momentum to potentially get revenge for their 2016 playoff loss to the Golden West College Rustlers.
Unfortunately for the visiting No. 8 El Camino men’s volleyball team (0-2), Golden West’s sophomore opposite hitter Kysen Olsen found his mojo in the second set.
Olsen reeled off 12 straight serve attempts as the No. 5 Rustlers put up a 20-8 lead in the second.
Golden West (2-0) would not lose momentum and carried on to a 3-1 victory (20-25, 25-13, 25-16, 25-22) on Wednesday night.
“We’re still growing,” GWC coach Paul Munoz said. “We made a lot less mistakes than usual, but we’re still trying to find our rhythm. It’s nice to see (Olsen) bring that energy from practice.”
Munoz added that Olsen’s performance is something the team sees on a regular basis at practice.
Olsen’s big performance in the second set only propelled him and the Rustlers to another strong performance in the third set to give them a heavy lead over the Warriors.
“My trick is that once I get a little heat on (the serve) I keep stacking it and stacking it (against the other team),” Olsen said.
Olsen had four service aces, just in that second set alone, but it wasn’t all him or his team, El Camino coach Dick Blount said.
“Sloppy,” Blount said. “Passing was terrible. (Olsen) is good, but we made him look great. He’s a strong player, but he’s not King Kong.”
The Warriors are on the road again on Friday night for a tough match-up vs. Cal Lutheran University and the main thing Blount wants from his team is a change in “body language.”