The Vaqueros women’s volleyball team won against Pasadena City College (3-1) on Sept. 18.
The Vaqueros were looking to win their match against Pasadena City College following their loss to Long Beach City College on Sept. 11.
The first point went to the Vaquero’s outside hitter Tana Long, who spiked the ball with precision. The Vaqueros were off to a great start, taking the first four points of the game. Pasadena stayed consistent and made spikes. They came back from being down five points and won the first set (22-25).
“We tend to start off really good and then close to the end the teams catch up,” Head Coach Kathrine Niksto said. “We have the potential to be a really good serving team, which will help us control the game.”
Looking to make a comeback, the Vaqueros started off the second set with an aggressive block by outside hitter Kaylin Cooney and middle blocker Grace Demmel continuing the attack on both ends Cooney darted the ball on Pasadena’s side.
Both teams were neck and neck by the end of the second set. The two teams were tied (22-22).
The Vaqueros powered through to capture the win in a long second set (27-25).
The Vaqueros, hoping to keep the momentum, looked sharp and focused going into the third match. Both teams were eager to get one step ahead of the other and started the third set determined to take the other out.
Cooney continued to land her spikes making Pasadena struggle. She was essential in taking the win against Pasadena. She scored a total of 20 points throughout the whole game.
The third set was extremely close. Both teams were hungry to take the third set of the game. In the third set, Tana Long was making crucial spikes for the Vaqueros to take the lead over Pasadena. They won the third set (25-23).
Finally, the fourth set had the Vaqueros needing one last win to take the game. Both teams looked fatigued having had each match go back and forth.
“I’m proud of them for sticking to it and getting the win. All the sets were very close, and so they did a good job finishing each match,” Niksto said.
The Vaqueros finished the game strong, winning the last set (25-20).
“I think after all games there’s always something we can improve on. I believe we lacked some points when serving, and I believe that we can be a very solid serving team. Which will help us not get into close games like today,” Niksto said.
The next match for the Vaqueros will be a crossover match with the schools in the Western State Conference consisting of three different matches with three other schools on Sept. 27.
“Next week should be good for us,” said Niksto. “I think it should be a good opportunity for us to focus on some of the improvements we talked about.”
