Set five, tied at two sets apiece and down 5-6, the Warriors needed a spark to turn the game around and win the match. Sophomore middle blocker, Peter Nordel, was given a set by sophomore setter, Chris Griebenow, and sent the ball flying into the middle of the court as the crowd cheered.

The men’s volleyball team extended their win streak to two games as they open the season with a 2-0 record.

The Warriors struggled against the visiting Irvine Valley Lasers. There were many attacking mistakes and receiving errors on both sides as coach Richard Blount said, “sloppy play from both sides. Nothing good comes from being sloppy.”

There were many off-court issues that led to a couple of key players not starting tonight as Coach Blount said, “Medina did not start due to being late to practice. Another one, Bobby Romano did not start or play tonight because he was also late. But unlike Medina he had no reason to be late.”

The Warriors who had much less errors compared to their season opener against Orange Coast, and like that game Nordel and freshman outside-hitter, Cesar Medina, played an instrumental factor in helping the Warriors beat the Lasers. Nordel had 16 kills, two solo blocks and five block assists, while Medina added 14 kills and two service aces.

Although the team won its second game in a row, there was discontent with the players, Griebenow among a couple others from the Warriors’ team said, “they played well, but we were beating ourselves. We like to swing which causes balls to fly out. We need to work on that, but we should have won in three.”

Nordel was disappointed as he said, “we played down to their level. Honestly, we are a lot better than that, we are capable of more. Of course we’re happy with the win. But our league is strong. If we play like this against teams like Orange Coast we’d lose in three.”

The visitors had a couple standout players who did their best to upset the Warriors. Irvine Valley’s Arek Halaj and Jake Adams played a pivotal role in leading attacks after bad serve receives from strong serves. Adams had 22 assists and Halaj added 14 as well. This was important because the sets from coming from everywhere and yet that did not stop Cole Murray, who led all attackers with 19 kills.

Despite their strong effort to topple the home side, the Lasers fell short as EC’s freshman outside hitter, Allen Sarinana, led all players with 16 digs. And much like his teammates, he said that getting the win was good and important, but the play throughout the match was “disappointing.”