The women’s volleyball team dominated the pace in the first two sets and quickly beat down Santa Monica College (SMC) on Wednesday night.
At the end of the second set the Warriors led 24-12 and were looking to head into the third set ready to sweep the competition.
SMC set up a perfect hit to the outside, but middle blocker Nia Masui and company waited with their hands high and shoved a big block down the throats of their opposition.
The Warriors finished set two 25-12, to take a 2-0 set lead and go on to win the match in convincing fashion.
The 1-1 El Camino Warriors hosted the 0-0 Santa Monica College (SMC) Corsairs for the first home game of the season. By the end of the night, the Warriors improved their record to 2-1. The Corsairs lost the first game of their season and fell to 0-1.
Before the game, Coach Le Valley Pattison said that the team wants to be successful this season.
“We want to be a championship-quality team,” she said. “The kids have been here since summer and they’re getting stronger and faster.”
The Warriors quickly dismantled the Corsairs in sets one and two, 25-11 and 25-12, respectively, and then won set three, 25-22.
Sophomore libero Brooke Russell, who had 12 digs, felt comfortable, but she thought there were some things to improve on like the defense, serving and passing.
The starting setter, since the first match against Grossmont and the second against College of the Canyons, is Nina Wyer, freshman, 25 assists.
“It was nerve-wrecking,” Wyer said. “But I’m glad the girls know what to do in keeping me comfortable.”
After a strong showing by sophomore outside hitter Nickeisha Williams, six kills and 10 digs, she was taken out in set three, but said that things were working well with the freshman setter.
“(Our setter) did better than expected,” Williams said. “She’s been working hard, and later on the chemistry will be even better.”
Freshman opposite hitter Taylor Brydon had 10 kills to lead all attackers and thought it was great to open up the season with a win.
“There were some good touches,” she said. “We played pretty well together. The team was super supportive and everyone did their jobs.”
With the win comes the need to seek improvement, and Coach Pattison thought there should be some more done in certain aspects of the team’s game.
“The serving and setting to the outside during transition,” she said. “It needs some work and we really need to focus on not making errors in the 20s.”
Sophomore outside hitter Kezia Boyer added nine kills on 20 attacks, with zero errors, and Masui’s four solo blocks in two sets were big.
The next game for the Warriors will be at Long Beach City College on Saturday. They will play against Allan Hancock, San Diego Mesa and Chaffey College beginning at 9:30 a.m.
