Men's Volleyball Defeats LMU; winning 3-1

Buoyed by hands soft as silk, the ball seemed to contemplate its fate as it drifted through the air, only to be harshly interrupted by something akin to the Hand of God telling it to shut up and fall. Last Friday evening, the Santa Monica College Corsairs hit their home court to play the Loyola Marymount University Lions. It was a rather laid-back affair, as the Corsairs defeated the Loyola Marymount Lions by a score of 3 games to 1.

The first game was a shocking affair with LMU coming out on top with a score of 30 to SMC's 24. The game started out with a quick SMC score, only to be interrupted by a fire alarm. However, there had been no fire, just Corsairs back-row player Martin Chiong.

He was setting up the camera to film the game when he inadvertently knocked the glass cover off the alarm. Instead of simply replacing the cover, Martin assumed that he had already turned on the alarm and pulled down to shut it off.

Needless to say, that wasn't the right move. That assumption now meant that the first game was accompanied by flashing lights and a rather obnoxious siren. Perhaps that was why the SMC team was so sluggish; they fumbled around quite a bit during the first game, missing hits and falling for simple tricks.

As if they could hear my pencil scratching out a disappointing story, the Corsairs rallied together and utterly crushed the Lions in a convincing second game victory, 30-21.

Pouring on the pressure, the Corsairs racked up five points quickly, bringing them to an early lead. The Lions would rally back, keeping the game close. It wasn't until the later half that the Corsairs finally hit their stride. They increased their point lead by steady increments and let the Lions make the mistakes.

The third game was even better, as the Corsairs started the game out strong, racking up a quick 4-point lead. However, LMU refused to be shut out like the last game and struck back just as hard, reducing SMC's advantage to just one point. With the lead in jeopardy, the Corsairs' Jeff Saguin, landed a devastating hit, smashing LMU's offensive streak to pieces.

In the end, the offensive might of SMC proved too much for LMU, leaving them grasping at straws and making critical mistakes. The final score was 30-21 in SMC's favor.

The beginning of the final game marked the end for the LMU Lions. They gave up 5 points right at the start and seemed well on their way into the grave. They spent the entire game playing catch up and trying to prevent a complete shutout.

However, the SMC team was far from perfect. The Corsairs may have maintained the lead throughout the entire game, but grew quickly overconfident in the later half and it almost proved to be their downfall. As the game began its final stages, the SMC team grew complacent, allowing LMU to score multiple times without reservation. It wasn't until LMU had closed the gap that SMC woke up and realized that while they were still in the lead, they hadn't yet won.

In the end, the Corsairs managed to wrest victory away from the Lions, despite the margin being closer than they hoped, with a final score of 30-28.

In the end, there wasn't much to say, and the coach reflected that. Other than a few platitudes and concise statements, Coach John Mayer and the players were remarkably taciturn. Not to say they weren't talkative, but the topic at hand was Martin Chiong and his fire alarm incident, not the outcome of the game.

The Corsairs' next game is Wednesday, February 24, as they get set to face the Pirates of Orange Coast College at the opponent's home stadium.