One week ago, the El Camino men’s volleyball team head coach said the team “stunk” in the road loss against 2015 defending state champions Santa Monica College.
Three weeks ago on March 2, the Warriors were trounced on the road in a sweep against conference-rival Moorpark College.
Tonight, the men’s volleyball team (7-6 overall, 4-3 in the Western State Conference) buckled down and tasted the sweet satisfaction of revenge, sweeping the visiting Moorpark College Raiders (4-10, 3-4) 3-0 in sets (25-17, 25-15, 25-23).
“We talked about (paying them back),” EC coach Dick Blount said. “It’s important for us to win (this) game, to get some separation (in the standings).”
El Camino is currently in third place in the Western State Conference, and come play-off time, only the top three seeds from the WSC and the Pacific Coast Conference are awarded the opportunity to take a shot at the state championships.
Sophomore outside hitter Nehemiah Iosia was gone from tonight’s game, and Blount said it was due to him having to attend a church retreat.
“He hasn’t missed a day in two years,” Blount said. “He’s entitled to it. And Josh (Riblett, sophomore outside hitter/middle blocker) played great.”
Riblett has been mainly a middle blocker this season and with the absence of Iosia, he kept the pressure up for the Warriors.
“I was stoked and (had) a blast (tonight),” he said. “We came in today with a mindset like, we didn’t even have a choice, we had to win and there was no exceptions today.”
While freshman middle blocker Matt Carter filled Riblett’s usual role, and with his time to shine, he felt the team capitalized in the match.
“There was a little bit of rivalry against (Moorpark, because they beat us last time,” Carter said. “We had a strong block and everything went well.”
El Camino’s next match is on the road against L.A. Pierce on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
“Errors are always going to happen,” freshman setter/opposite hitter Pedro Campos said. “We just have to try and stop (making) so many errors, especially in the third set.”
