Corsair's Beach Volleyball Loses 5-0 to Bakersfield
The Santa Monica Corsairs beach volleyball team suffered a 5-0 loss to the Bakersfield Renegades at the Santa Monica Beach during a conference game this Friday, April 13. With only one day left in the season, it was the first time the Corsairs played against the Renegades.
With no individual match wins, Assistant Coach, Thomas Slauterbeck, found that the Corsairs battled strong, even though the wind was persistent throughout the day. “Bakersfield's one of the better teams in our conference so we actually played quite well, even though we lost,” Slauterbeck said.
This marks the second year that Santa Monica competes in beach volleyball; however, for many of the players, this was their first year on the team. Taylor Burks (#12) played in court two and found Bakersfield to be good competition.
“It’s something I can play because I’m such a short player, indoors I don’t get much swinging done,” Burks said. “I get to go out there and start ripping balls and just trying to get out with the big girls because it gets to be a more even playing field out here.”
Burks’ partner on the court, Ada Nadzakova (#13), finds that on the beach, she can be more reckless without being in as much pain. She has grown with the rest of the team over the season and connects well with everyone due to the way the sport is more individually-focused. “In relationships, sometimes they say separation is good, I’d say the same thing for beach,” Nadzakova said.
During their practice, the team gets to play together, and Burks finds that’s where they have really grown. “We bond a lot more since we’re out here early in the morning getting our crankiness out on each other and spending a lot of laughs together as well,” Burks said.
The Santa Monica Corsairs will get a chance to play Bakersfield again on Friday, April 20 during the final game of the season. They will also be playing Antelope Valley College, who defeated the Corsairs 4-1 back in March.