Although Glendale College was on the losing end to Santa Monica in a Western State Conference match Friday, they did make the Lady Corsairs fight for every point and game, ultimately falling 25-22, 25-17 and 25-22.
The closeness of the games kept the fans on the edge of their seats as all three games went back and forth and at the end, everyone in attendance applauded the efforts of both teams.
Santa Monica gained the early edge and managed to hang on at the end to win 25-22. Sophomore outside hitter Jessica Alvarez had several kills and setter Roxy Domines hustled all over the floor to set up her teammates.
The second game ended with a score of 25-17 in favor of Santa Monica as errors piled up for the Lady Vaqs as they couldn’t quite maintain the momentum they had in the first game.
Game three was much like game No. 1, as Glendale fought to the very last point but could not come up with enough big plays to extend the match to a fourth or even a fifth game.
Alvarez had a solid match with 12 kills despite having to rest for a few points after colliding with a Santa Monica player after a play at the net. Outside hitter Brittany Frederick had nine kills and hitter and middle blocker Sara Kert ended the game with 5 kills and setter Roxanne Domines ended the game with 28 assists.
When asked about the Vaquero performance volleyball coach Yvette Ybarra said she did not quite know how to answer that question.
“We fought at certain points. We really struggled with errors which made competing very difficult,” said Ybarra, whose team is 4-9 overall and 0-2 in WSC play.
When asked about needed improvements, Ybarra said that the Lady Vaquero’s needed improvement in every aspect of the game. “We need to pass and serve receive,” she said in regards to the most crucial needed improvements. “We need to be aggressive.”
On a good note, Ybarra said that there were improvements in comparison to passed games. “We didn’t miss as many serves this game,” Ybarra said.
“Santa Monica is known to have a great [volleyball] program,” assistant coach Jocelyn Abad said. “We tried to play up to their potential,” Abad added. “There’s definite room for improvement next time we see them.
The players were truly feeling the frustration at the end of the game. “So frustrating. We can’t seem to pull it together as a team. We have great practices but it doesn’t come out in games,” Lady Vaquero Sara Kert said. “We need to have faith in each other,” she added.
The Vaquero’s will play on the road this week at West Los Angeles College on Tuesday and at Los Angeles Pierce College on Friday. Both matches start at 7 p.m.
