Women’s volleyball get their first conference win
The Hawks defeated the Diablo Valley Vikings at home on Oct. 5. The Hawks have struggled in conference play this season and this was their first victory in conference.
The women’s volleyball team won a hard-earned victory of 3-1 against Diablo Valley College on Oct. 5, winning their first conference game out of six.
The Vikings came ready to put up a fight but the Hawks held their own on their home court, maintaining control for most of the match. .
“They’re scrappy and they definitely serve really tough so it really affected our servacy more than normal,” said Head Coach Kari Nahlen. “We were able to go out there and push hard.”
The first set was a constant back and forth between the Vikings and the Hawks, with both teams’ liberos keeping the ball from hitting the ground at the last second multiple times throughout the set.
Halfway through the first set defensive specialist Esmeralda Hernandez was able to score two back-to-back aces, placing her team in a comfortable lead. The Hawks ended the set with a score of 25-16.
The Vikings began to wake up during the second set as they went on the offensive when their outside hitter repeatedly spiked the ball against the Hawks. The Hawks were able to hold their own though and scored another victory, ending the set 25-20.
Unfortunately for the Hawks, the Vikings seemed to be feeling the loss of the first two sets and weren’t in the mood to be completely shut out.
The Vikings’ defense came alive and made sure that nothing was getting past them with their middle blockers halting every attack and tipping, despite the Hawks’ increased offense. By the end of the third set, the Vikings had come back and won the set with a score of 25-13.
“In the third set they had a little bit more energy than we did and they overshadowed us a little bit but we came back in the fourth set,” said right side hitter Ashanti Cason.
After the third set loss, the Hawks were able to muster up enough energy to not only fight, but to demolish the Vikings . Their defense was held up by middle blocker Taryn Oberle while Hernandez went on the offensive and scored repeatedly. When it was over, the Hawks ended the set with a lopsided score of 25-7.
The team was ready for their first conference win after a series of losses. They practiced hard and learned to work better said Hernandez.
“We have the chemistry after playing together for so long and we were ready to use it,” said Hernandez.