Giving second-string players an opportunity to step up, to make plays, and to win EC’s first of a string of important conference games was the scene at Pasadena City College Friday.
Because of the effort of the bench, the Warriors were able to overcome some misplays and mistakes to win, 30-15, 30-20, 30-19.
This win pushes the team’s record to 8-0 and starts off its conference record with a promising 1-0.
After their first conference game, the Warriors played Mt. San Antonio College yesterday, but scores were not available at press time.
The team will go on to play a third conference game tomorrrow against Cerritos.
Cerritos is ranked No. 5 in the Women’s Volleyball Coaches Association poll, behind No. 2 EC and No. 1 Delta.
In addition to being ranked second in the poll, EC is also ranked No. 2 in the state behind Delta again.
The team has had little previous experience playing Cerritos this season and does not expect the game to be an easy one.
“We played them in a tournament and won, twenty-five to twenty-four,” Richard Blount, assistant coach, said. “Now they’re mad. They want that point back.”
However, this time the team will have an even more difficult time facing Cerritos.
“They were missing one of their better players,” Blount said. “She’s back and they’re much better.
“It’s going to be a hard game, no doubt about it.”
Even though the Warriors needed to spend time preparing for individual opponents, they have recently been preparing for the next few conference games because they predict the teams they play won’t be easy opposition.
“We used last week to do a lot of work, a lot of conditioning, to really get ready for this next week,” coach Le Valley Patisson said.
Even though Cerritos is ranked below EC, the Warriors think the game will be a battle.
“It should be a prime game for our conference, and we need to play well to win,” Pattison said.
Even the players understand what kind of a game they will be going into and how important it will be.
“Cerritos is a tough team, but I still think we can break them,” Erin Mataalii said. “We just need to set our minds to it and be ready.”
Cerritos will be the third conference game for EC, who is at the top of the South Coast Conference, trailed closely
by Cerritos.
Cerritos will not be a relaxed game like the Warriors’ game against Pasadena.
“They are just not good, to be perfectly honest,” Pattison said. “It’s disappointing; Pasadena has a very solid program.
“Pasadena used to be one of our toughest opponents, and the last couple of years they haven’t been that tough,” Blount said. “That gave us the luxury of letting some others play who normally wouldn’t get as much playtime.”
Because of this, the team was able to show its depth and showcase some of the skill it possesses on the bench.
“We didn’t play as well as we’d like to, but we put the second-string in and they took care of it,” Taryn Tamblyn, who had six digs in the game, said. “We had a lot of unforced errors that shouldn’t have happened.”
Many of Pasadena’s points were even caused because of mistakes the team made.
“I think we all tried our hardest,” Mataalii said. “We made mistakes here and there.”
If it were not for the team’s mistakes, the game against Pasadena would have been even easier.
Even though the team did not play as well as it would have liked, some outstanding performances came from certain players because of their opportunity for more playing time.
“A person who stepped up her game was Sarah (Cox),” Tamblyn said. “She dug a lot of balls.”
Cox had 14 digs and three kills in the game.
Although they won against Pasadena, the team hopes to play better in its other upcoming conference games.
“We played OK; we didn’t play fantastic, but everybody got a chance to play,” Pattison said.
