With a broken knuckle, Joseph Tanuvasa did all he could to set the volleyball, but the hitters couldn’t put the ball away and continued to rack up hitting errors. When push came to shove, errors on the game cost the Warriors a conference win.
Down 8-5 in the final game of the match, the passing game continued to suffer, players were mentally exhausted and a deficit proved hard to overcome.
Starting out strong, the Warriors allowed Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) back in the first game and a shift of momentum influenced the outcome of the match. The Warriors fought hard over the next 4 games but errors and low energy gave them a loss in the books.
“We played down to their level, gave them energy and ultimately let them win,” coach Richard Blount said.
Now 0-1 in their conference giving the Warriors a 4-3 record, the team faces two conference games this week. The team looks to defend its court against Pierce College on Friday.
Passing as a team was poor in games 1, 3 and 5 and subsequently were lost. On a 3 point scale, the Warriors put up a low 2.3 passing average in game 5 and the team couldn’t bounce back from the deficit.
“When we pass poorly we give our setter less options and our hitting becomes predictable to our opponent,” Blount said.
Losing the advantage in the first match 29-27, the Warriors came out strong in the 2nd putting up a 7-0 lead on the scoreboard. David Estes, defensive specialist, recorded a string of service points to help the team win 25-20 but the battle continued in the third game as the teams went point for point. Quickly becoming the underdogs, the Warriors lost the battle 25-21.
“We just weren’t ready and couldn’t fight back,” Jonathan Pettit, libero and team captain, said. “We didn’t execute properly.”
A win in the fourth game gave the Warriors an edge in the match. The team played with setter and team captain, Joseph Tanuvasa’s leadership winning 25-21. In game 5 the Warriors switched sides of the court down 8-5. With little energy and noise from the bench, the team wasn’t able to rally back losing 15-11.
“We were mentally exhausted and had little energy which put us out of reach,” Pettit said.
A recorded 7 hitting errors negatively affected the final game. With their opponent camped out at the net, SBCC forced hitters to make poor decisions.
“We couldn’t put the ball away,” Hunter Hovland, opposite hitter said.
Even though the errors ultimately cost the Warriors the match, some of the players played well. Hovland had 22 kills while Race Munger, middle hitter, recorded 11 kills and 9 blocks. Pettit racked up 26 digs on the match.
“We can’t dwell on this loss,” Pettit said. “We need to learn from it, get hungry and win our next game.”
