City College women’s volleyball left everything out on the court and swept Moorpark College in a 3-0 game on Friday, Nov. 3.
The game was filled with anticipation from both sides of the court. The bleachers were filled with fans of both teams.
The game started with a drumroll from fans as Kaylene Ureno (No. 4) served for the Vaqueros. The audience erupted in shouts when City College took the point. The loud crowd made a positive impact on the team’s performance.
“The energy was there so I want to thank our fans for all coming out tonight,” said McKenzie Garrison (No. 9).
“This is what makes college volleyball fun. It was a great environment. Our fans were the MVP tonight,” said head coach Ed Gover.
In the first game the crowd was kept on the edge of their seats as the scoreboard changed from 1-1, 2-2, all the way to 4-4 when City College took a few point lead against Moorpark. City College kept that lead and the first game ended 25-17.
The second game started off the same way, with each team staying within a one point lead on each other, but this time Moorpark broke it, and got a 3 point lead ahead of City College. City College did not crawl ahead of Moorpark until later into the game when it was tied 18-18. City College took the lead and the game ended 25-20.
In the third game, neither team was able to get more than a two point lead until Karissa Mertens (No. 13) was given the serve when the score was 16-16. Mertens took the team from 16-16 all the way till the end of the game. The Vaqueros did not let Moorpark get one more point on them and the third game ended 25-16.
When City College won the final game, fans jumped and screamed and even went on the court to congratulate the winning team.
“I love it when she does that, she’s our number one server on the team,” said Gover about Mertens nine point lead.
“I don’t want to be on the other side of the net when she’s serving,” he added.
Mertens said Gover’s coaching on her serves is what helps her to be so successful.
“I try to have calm intensity, as we say,” said Mertens. “I have to go out there ready for anything to happen.”
This game was an exciting win for the Vaqueros. The last game they had against Moorpark they lost and it broke their 13 game winning streak.
“It was nice to come back and beat them, this was a really big win for us, it means we’re conference champions,” said Garrison with a smile.
City College has done extremely well this season with a 19-5 record. They have yet to lose on their home court.
“This was our best game in terms of heart and just putting everything out there,” said Garrison
This is their second to last conference game of the season. The Vaqueros look towards CCCAA State Championship which takes place on Dec. 2-3.
The Vaqueros next game is at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 8 at Allan Hancock College.
