Corsairs sweep Vikings, extending win streak to three
Fans' cheers ring through the walls of the Corsair Gym, while tension between the teams steadily brews inside. The referee blows his whistle, the volleyball flies over the net, and the sound of the player’s squeaky shoes begins to fill the gym. All eyes turn to the court, cheers escalate and suddenly — point for the Corsairs, 1-0.
“There’s a lot of personal rivalries in this matchup because their team has a lot of players who played for SMC last season. I think we just had a little extra energy and extra intensity for this game. So, it felt good to get a clean sweep, 3-0, and walk out here as champions,” said David Updegrove, volunteer assistant coach for the Corsairs.
The Santa Monica College (SMC) Corsairs men’s volleyball team (11-9) swept the Long Beach City College (LBCC) Vikings (13-6), 3-0. They ended LBCC’s nine-win streak in the highly anticipated conference rematch on April 4 at home.
Tension and competitive animosity rose when Viking’s Bryce Bowsher, Kody Castellon and Nathan Kramer, former SMC athletes, returned to the Corsair Gym representing a new team, division rivals, as the Vikings.
LBCC beat the Corsairs 3-2 in their Week 13 matchup. Since then, LBCC has climbed to first place in the conference standings, and SMC, on a three-game win streak, is in second place.
The Corsairs started strong, gaining a 3-0 in the opening set, but the momentum shifted when James Ban, the Corsair’s libero, was injured on the fifth rally.
Ban dove for the ball after an attack from Jared Preciado and was unable to stand afterward. He rolled on the floor, with a sour face, clutching his ankle.
As he grovels in pain, the room falls silent, only broken by shushes. He eventually stands on his own and limps off the court to the sound of applause, taking the team’s momentum with him. Vikings are given the point, the Corsairs lead 3-2.
“For us, we were so worried on number eight (Ban), like, is he going to be okay. Once we saw he came back in, that’s when it’s like, ‘okay, back to focus now,’ even though we probably should’ve done that when he went off. We started playing for it. Let’s play for him to get back here,” said Cameron Taylor, a Corsair outside hitter.
After Ban’s injury, the Corsairs’ hot start came to a grinding halt. Ban returned on the eighth rally, but the Vikings took the lead.
“I think we came out with extreme intensity and discovered that we couldn’t quite sustain that kind of peak intensity through the entire match,” said Updegrove.
LBCC didn’t hesitate to capitalize on Ban’s absence, scoring five of the next seven points. The Vikings carried the momentum but a service error by Kramer, one of the former SMC athletes, put the ball in the hands of Alen Petraev, a Corsairs’ middle blocker.
The crowd came alive when Petraev received the ball. SMC supporters began to stomp their feet on the wooden floor and slap their hands on the plastic bleachers.
As Petraev nears the serving area, chants of “Alen, Alen, Alen” fill the gym. After the rally, another point was awarded to the Corsairs.
The Corsairs bench, down by one, begins taunting the Viking’s bench with calls of “you can’t stop this.” Prompting LBCC to chant back, “We can’t hear you.”
The players’ smiles dissipated midway through the first set, now replaced with a scowl.
LBCC slightly expanded their lead but the game remained highly contested. The early runaway match disappeared, turning into an all-out slug-fest, a back-and-forth, with both teams going on short point runs to tie and lead the game.
The Vikings went on a three-point run to take the lead, but momentum shifted after a huge block by Petraev.
The Corsairs carried their momentum late in the set. Soorya Raman, a Corsair middle blocker, hit the ball to cut the lead to one. The rally continued following a consequential kill by Petraev to tie the game.
Santa Monica, on a roll, scores seven of the next nine points before Joshua Nehls, head coach of the LBCC Vikings, calls for a timeout. The timeout proved to be inconsequential as the Corsairs had their foot on the gas, requiring Nehls to call another timeout after a sharp kill by Taylor.
A series of serving errors by the Vikings gave the Corsairs a four-point advantage, 24-20, late in the opening set.
As pressure rises, Vikings setter Willy Wang blocks the ball, giving them a burst of life. Kramer continues the point run by consecutively hitting the ball, bringing the game within a point.
After Kramer’s attack, the sound of Viking fans jumping out of their seats and Corsair fans jumping into theirs rippled through the gym. A successful block ties the game 24-24, with both teams needing a two-point advantage to win the set.
The Vikings bench chants next to Wang, as he bounces the ball to their rhythm inside the service zone. Anxious faces with pit stains and their hands covering their mouth stand idly in the bleachers waiting for Wang to serve.
Wang’s serve is met with a kill by Raman to put the Corsairs up a point. With the ball in Taylor’s hand, the home crowd begins to cheer.
The Corsairs’ attack is met with a quick response from Kramer, who spikes the ball towards Taylor. A brisk back and forth ensues before Raman hits the ball for a set-winning kill. The announcer says, “Set. Santa Monica,” unleashing whistles and screams from the home crowd.
LBCC took an early lead in the second set, winning seven of the first 10 points. The Corsairs, now down 7-3, needed a change in momentum.
Vikings’ Kramer serves the ball, leading to another kill by Taylor. The crowd and Corsair bench come to their feet, cheering and applauding, creating energy.
A series of rally-ending points and service errors brought the Corsairs within one point of the Vikings’ lead. Corsair setter Ethan Lo then tied the game with an ace after a failed diving attempt by LBCC’s libero Castellon, former SMC athlete.
The game is deadlocked at 9-9 with both teams refusing to reduce intensity. LBCC’s Preciado scores a rally-ending point to put the Vikings ahead. The Corsairs respond by winning five points of the next seven.
Nehls calls a timeout as momentum drastically shifts toward the Corsairs. The Viking’s sideline sits in silence as the home crowd cheers.
Kramer scored the initial point for LBCC after the timeout, but the Corsairs remained unfazed. The Vikings played hard, bringing the game within one, still trailing 14-15, the closest they would get for the remainder of the set. The Corsairs scored 10 of the next 17 points with Taylor delivering the set-ending kill.
Entering the third set, both teams stayed competitive, with neither team gaining a lead greater than two, early in the set.
Taylor delivers a rally-ending kill to put the Corsairs in the lead, 10-9, marking the last lead change of the set.
The Corsairs scored seven of the next 11 points before the Vikings called a timeout. SMC immediately scores two points coming out of the break prompting Nehls to immediately call another timeout. As the Vikings reevaluated, Petraev begins hyping the crowd as he walks towards the bench, celebrating the team’s five-point run.
The Vikings immediately go on a three-point run after the timeout. The Vikings exited the huddle rejuvenated, but the LBCC supporters didn’t share the feeling. Taylor then kills the momentum LBCC was building by delivering another kill, bringing the game to 20-16 with the Corsairs in the lead.
SMC continues to score four of the next seven points and the crowd is electric. The home crowd is on their feet, stomping and yelling. The referee’s whistle cuts through the cheers, signaling Sergio Garcia, LBCC’s outside hitter to serve.
The volleyball whizzes by the net to be sent back by Bon. A quick back-and-forth occurs before Garcia commits an attack error, sending the ball out of bounds. The referee blows his whistle as the Corsairs win the set 25-19 and sweep the Vikings.
Petraev falls onto the floor while the Corsairs bench rushes onto the court. Across the net, LBCC’s Kramer and Castellon immediately rush off the court, while Wang stands with his hands on his hips staring through the net in disbelief. The home crowd then rushes to the court to join the celebrating players.
“We were playing like we were down, because we did not want to get too comfortable and let them come back and push back against us. So, we started pushing for even more, so we could hurry up and sweep them,” said Taylor.
“It’s the chemistry of the team. This team works very, very hard, every day. Every day we show up, practicing in the morning, the afternoon. I was just ready, we prepared for this kind of ball. The guys, I’m very happy that all of them came today,” said Petraev.
Petraev finished the game with nine kills on 31 attempts. He also recorded three block assists and 13 digs. Raman played a significant role in changing and maintaining momentum, recording nine kills on 16 attacks.
Taylor contributed heavily on offense and defense. Taylor recorded 16 kills on 31 attempts. He also has four assists, 14 digs, and one block solo.
“Alen and Cam have just been great leaders all year. They’ve had some tough losses to Long Beach over the last couple of years, and they really wanted it badly. We’ve just been putting in the work for months to be ready for this moment, and I think they really stepped up,” said Corsairs’ head coach Chris Chown.
The Corsairs have two games left before reaching the first round of the regional playoffs. If SMC wins their next two games, they’ll head into the playoffs as the winners of the Northern Central Regional conference. SMC will be traveling to El Camino on April 9, looking to extend their win streak and secure their playoff position.