Glendale College Lady Vaqueros went down 0-2 in the first round of the Western State Conference after losing two consecutive games to Pierce College and more recently, to College of the Canyons by 3-0.

After losing a devastating game on Friday against College of the Canyons, the frustration was evident in the eyes of the players and the coaches. Glendale went down 10-2 early in the first set – and it didn’t get any better from there.

“We definitely didn’t come out with the right mindset,” said assistant coach Lucinda Bucan. “We didn’t come out as aggressively as we should. We ended up putting ourselves in a hole that we couldn’t dig ourselves out of.”

Throughout the game, it was apparent that the Lady Vaqs were unfocused with the way they performed. They were missing returns and digs; balls were dropping right in front of the players. Balls were being hit and flung all over the place. The scene can only be described as chaos.

“I feel we started out kind of shaky, and our passing was off,” said sophomore Isabelle Carter.

It would not be fair to blame the loss entirely on the Lady Vaqs.

College of the Canyons played a superb game. Their blocking and returns were on point. They left little room for error and definitely capitalized on every single Glendale mistake.

It’s not that Glendale didn’t prepare for this game, said coach Yvette Ybarra.
“We had a good practice yesterday, they [Vaqs] seemed prepared, they just didn’t show it tonight,” said Ybarra. “I’m really just mad and upset; they didn’t look like they were prepared to play.”

It is definitely “crunch-time” for the Lady Vaqs. Even though it is early in the first round, it is crucial for them to win the next game, for momentum’s sake. There is palpable need for change in Glendale’s game play, and that needs to happen now.

“There was real lack of communication,” said sophomore Aya Nakano, who led the team with nine kills. “We just need to work hard. we need to win.”

Before the start of every set, the team would huddle and yell “COMMUNICATION!” Some things are better done than said.

Freshman Carissa Mathijssen, spoke after the game about team communication. “We needed to talk more out there. We need to work on passing errors and communication.