In a thrilling Women’s volleyball match between the equally ranked Glendale College and Cuesta College on Nov. 14, Glendale fell short in a fifth tie-breaking set, ending their season with a 10-16 overall record. Finishing fifth in the Western State Conference South, Glendale looked to finish out their season strong and rely on many defensive and offensive improvements they made over the season. After losing to Cuesta previously in the season in three straight sets, with each set being scored up to 25 (25-17, 25-17, 25-17), Glendale went into their final home match keeping the game close by forcing a 15 point tie-breaking set where they lost by two points (25-19, 11-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-13) making the final set score 2-3.
Throughout the season, Glendale had faced many challenges and made many improvements including “A general increase in their IQ. Each sport has an IQ, and for this sport in particular, learning how to do things that make you uncomfortable is important. So we started to see an increase in the IQ, which is a really good thing to see,” Glendale’s Women’s Volleyball Coach Yvette Ybarra said. “It was our last game, so we needed to learn to have fun on the court. The fun was back and forth, and that is what we wanted from them. Overall, they did, and it showed in their play,” said Ybarra. Focusing on communication and having fun on the court, many Glendale players made some key plays to score valuable points against Cuesta.
In her final home match playing for the team, sophomore Sofia Gregorio played well on both the offensive and defensive side putting up eight kills and 10 digs. Other notable players include freshman Karina Biel with 32 digs and freshman Caitlyn Mendoza with 36 assists. With such a young team and only losing one player for the Fall 2024 season, Glendale is looking forward to their upcoming Beach Volleyball season in the Spring in hopes of polishing up their communication skills and coming into the next Volleyball season with more experience under their belt.
Samantha Smith can be reached at [email protected].