Moving on up: Corsair volleyball dominates in first conference game

Despite Bakersfield's high state ranking the Lady Corsairs managed to win their match against them. The ladies lost the 1st set and then managed to make a comeback winning 3 sets in a row.

The girls volleyball team pulled out all the stops for their four set victory in their first Western State Conference game.

“Bakersfield is nineteenth in state, and we managed to win three consecutive sets in a row against them this is a huge win for our team,” Coach Ryan said just minutes after the game. It was still clear how much shock she was is in after the stunning performance put on by her girls.

After losing the first set, and coming really close to losing the second set, Santa Monica seemed to be struggling.

Towards the end of the second set, Ryan decided to call a timeout. After that it was as if Bakersfield didn’t stand a chance. You could see a change in the whole demeanor of the team, they were playing way harder, and you could see that they truly were giving all they had out on the court.

When asked what she was telling her girls in these timeouts Ryan said, “All I had to do was continue to be reassuring, I let them know they need to stop focusing on mistakes and just kept encouraging them to keep giving their all.” Giving up because things were getting a little tough was definitely not an option for this team.

Most of the sets started off the same. Bakersfield gained a tiny lead, then Santa Monica called a timeout which induced a sudden burst of energy in the girls. Each set went down to the wire usually the teams would tie at the 22 or 23 point mark. The first set was the only one that Bakersfield was able to pull through to the very end and win.

While Ryan believes all of her girls played extremely well and, “surpassed expectations,” one thing that stood out most to her was the play of the Corsairs #1 player, Jene Price. Price played an amazing game and made her presence known on the court. “Jene was a very important part of tonight's game I think this was her best game and her best play this season, and I’m just glad she chose a conference game to start playing like this,” says Ryan.

As the conference games continue it is the team’s goal to keep playing the way they did against Bakersfield. If they continue to play the way they did, and exceed their coaches expectations Ryan believes they may have a real chance against higher ranking teams such as Canyons.