In a rematch of last years California state championship finals, the Warriors once again prevailed over rival Golden West College in 4 games 25-21, 22-25, 25-21, 25-1,7 on their way to another championship season run.
This was one of the most highly anticipated matches of the season for the Warriors.
“The team was very highly motivated for this championship rematch, so when the game started, they were ready to play with a lot of excitement,” coach LeValley Pattison said.
The Warriors came out strong and fought to win the first game 25-21, but stumbled in the second match of the game falling 22-25. The team rallied together and were motivated enough to win the third and fourth matches to seal the victory over the Rustlers.
“Our outside hitters really stepped up and did well against a really good defensive team,” Pattison said.
All of the outside hitters on this years’ team have been playing well so far, which is very rare considering all four outside hitters are freshman.
Offensively, everyone on the team contributed with Ashley Hardy and Kara Lei Cummings standing out with a combined 23 kills.
Deja Dickerson and Jo Tulikihihifo added six and eight kills respectively in the victory over Golden West.
“I transferred here in the fall to be a part of this team and I am really excited for the way our team is performing so far,” Erika Kirby said.
Karina Woehrsrein outperformed even herself against Golden West, picking up a season high 31 digs on defense.
It took contributions from everyone on the team to earn the win over Golden West and, in the end, all of the hard work paid off.
“This was a really exciting game and it took a complete team effort by everyone to pull off this victory,” Dickerson said.
The Warrior defense was outstanding against the Rustlers, but Amrita Tuladhar and Sam Taylor stood out as the team leaders.
“I think (Tuladhar) played the best I have seen her play all year, and (Taylor) had a much better court demeanor than she did against Pierce,” Pattison said.
Tuladhar had three aces and spiked down a team leading 14 kills, while adding eight digs and 1 block defensively.
Conference games have just gotten underway and the Warriors will be facing some very talented conference opponents.
They will face off against a very good Long Beach City College team tomorrow. The Warriors also played their first league game on Friday and easily beat Los Angeles City College in just three games 25-11 25-17 25-13.
“This will be a very exciting season, but the only way we will be able to go all the way is if we work hard and have positive energy. We gotta have positive energy to win,” Pattison said.
The Warriors traveled to Pasadena City College yesterday, but results were unavailable at press time.
