Women’s Volleyball team gets raided by Vikings in 3-1 loss

With music blaring loud, the Lancers Women’s Volleyball team practiced before their game against Long Beach. Fired up from a good win, the team were ready to fight to keep their momentum going. However, despite putting up a good fight throughout the game, the Lancers volleyball team lost to The Long Beach Vikings 3-1.

The team fought long and hard through each set, keeping the scores relatively close but failing to overtake the Vikings.

The game got off to a rocky start, with loose coordination between the team and some strings of goals here and there. Set 1 was filled with missed opportunities, net hits, and a lack of team flow that ultimately contributed to the 17-25 score, favoring the Vikings.

Set 2 started out similarly, with the Lancers failing to get anything going.The Viking’s attack was too fast and The Lancers just couldn’t keep up. The same issues plaguing the team in set 1 followed through to set 2 as well. Poor communication and team flow are ultimately what cost the team the round. Set 2 ended with a score of 17-24, again in favor of the Vikings Vikings, but PCC wasn’t too far behind.

Going into Set 3 is when the tide turned in favor of The Lancers as they were consistently scoring. Bia Silva’s, the team’s setter, used a move called a “dump,” bringing them extra help just when they needed it. A dump is when the setter gets slightly more aggressive to fake out the enemy team.

When discussing the game withPCC’s new Sports Coordinator Jackie Robinson during set 3, she mentioned the off night the team was having and how they could possibly pull it back for a lancer win.

“It’s clear that we’re the better team,” Robinson said. “We may not be showing out tonight, but our student-athletes are great. You can’t win every time but it’s best three out of five so we still have a chance.”

Towards the middle of Set 3, Emma Yogan was hit in the face with the volleyball, halting the game for a few minutes, and after a quick swig of water and a cleanup of her bloody nose, she was back on the court.

“Yeah it hurt, but when you get hit in the face it fills you with adrenaline,” Yogan said. “It makes you want to get back out there and play harder.”

Set 3 ended shortly after Yogan’s return to the court with a Lancer win, with a score of 25-18. Despite the rough beginning, the Lancers were finally getting a groove on the court. Going into Set 4 the score was 2-1, giving the Lancers a slight chance for a comeback.

The next set began with the same energy the last set had. The team was ferocious and constantly scoring. The Vikings were getting points here and there but just could not get on top of the Lancers.

This lead wouldn’t last long as the game got tighter and tighter, with each team alternating rallying and scoring points. This resulted in a close 23-25 loss at the end of Set 4, giving the Vikings a 3-1 win to end the match.

Silva’s personal analysis of the game was that, while her signature move works sometimes, the opposing team eventually catches on.

“Once you do something over and over again, the other team eventually catches on and adapts,” Silva said. “I noticed that they were moving towards the center of the court so I changed to doing back dumps and it worked for us.”

When speaking with Coach Michael Terril, he mentioned the dangers of playing against a team itching for a win.

“Long Beach had only won one game before tonight,” Terril said. “When you’re up against an opponent like that, it makes them dangerous. They’re ready to fight for that win, and they’re gonna fight hard.”

Terril also mentioned the general cohesiveness of the team was missing and how it affected their gameplay.

“I didn’t recognize the team playing tonight,” Terril said. “They weren’t playing hard enough to resist the attacks. They started to turn it around during the 3rd and 4th sets but I wish they had that energy from the beginning.”

The team was disappointed with their loss, but they were not willing to let that set them back, they’re prepared to fight hard in their upcoming practices and games

“We have to come in with that killer mentality, which we usually don’t have in practice, we just go with the motion,” Silva said. “We say a lot but have a harder time doing and executing our goals.”