Its been another rough season for the Cosumnes River College volleyball team, as the team has only won two out of the 13 matches they’ve played so far this season. Their match against the Diablo Valley College Vikings didn’t bode any better for the team.

Diablo Valley started the first set with a serve and scored their first point with an out of bounds call. Soon after, CRC tied things up with a kill.

Throughout the first set, the Vikings had the lead but the Hawks caught up and, eventually, took the lead, 8-5. But the Vikings tied things up scoring an ace as Hawks’ freshman outside hitter Justice Cooper tried to catch the ball when it hit the ground.

An attempt by Cooper to spike the ball later in the set was blocked by the Vikings who also scored in the process. By the end of the first set, the Viking scored another ace leading to a 25-12 win.

The Hawks’ head coach Cassie Baxter said that the team could have improved on getting their block in a better place, and that they missed a couple of blocks that they should have had.

“Our game strategy tonight was to block angle,” Baxter said. “We knew DVC was going to have a lot of angle balls for stuff that we were trying to defend.”

The second set began with CRC freshman middle blocker Royletha Hudson serving the ball. Just like the first set, DVC and CRC both took the lead at points but DVC would come out on top by the end, finishing the set 25-14.

It was in the third set that the Hawks managed to change the game. Scoring the first point of the set, CRC gained a lead early on of 3-0 until the Vikings scored their first point. In a close game, it was moments like Hawks’ sophomore libero Mary Tamayo’s saved ball that she passed to Hudson for a kill that helped them come out on top.

The Hawks won the third set with a score of 25-22.

CRC assistant coach Molly Hanrahan said that she is proud of the team for actually pulling out and pulling together. She said they rallied a little more.

“We did take it one game from DVC, which is something that we’re striving to do,” Hanrahan said. “It’s great that we’re getting better and better with each game that we play in each match.”

The fourth set was once again a close game, as the Vikings took the lead with the Hawks trailing close behind. The final score of the game was 25-21, the Vikings coming away with the overall win.

CRC’s freshman outside hitter Jessica Winship said that the team could have improved on communication, because they get really quiet and just shut down, but they are getting better with it.

Winship said she is optimistic about games in the future.

“I was happy with how we fought at the end,” Winship said. “Things were a little rough, but I know that it’ll better our games in the future.”