The women’s volleyball team played Santa Rosa Junior College on Wednesday and swept the Bear Cubs 25-21, 25-23, 25-19. 

This is the fifth consecutive sweep for the Hawks as they start their hunt for playoff contention in the Big 8 Conference. 

“We’re 13 in NorCal right now,” Head Coach Kari Nahlen said. “Our team is super adaptable, we’re implementing a new strategy and because of that, we were able to run our offense.” 

Nahlen said she was excited to see her players serving and receiving “nails”, a term she used to describe intense serves going over the net from both teams.

The Hawks kept the energy high on the sideline as they chanted, “we love free one’s” after capitalizing on errors by Santa Rosa. Both teams stomped and cheered from the sidelines as scores were nearly tied through all three matches. 

Middle hitter Antonique Coleman had a hitting percentage of .381 with 10 kills out of 21 total attacks.

Jillian Bosanek, middle hitter, had a hitting percentage of .389 with 10 kills out of 18 total attacks

Setter Nicole Risch had a total of 30 assists and scored 7.5 points between all three sets.

Santa Rosa tied the third set at 15-15 until the Hawks pulled away for the 25-19 win.

Nahlen said the team executed their plan well and she was impressed with the box score. 

“It feels really good,” said middle hitter Saniyah Brooks. “We want to make the playoffs and keep going.”

Helen Gwananji, right side hitter, said their first conference game was a fight. 

“We want to take it one day at a time,” Gwananji said. “That’s all we’re worried about right now.”

The Hawks are 9-2 after defeating Santa Rosa as they look ahead to face the San Joaquin Delta Mustangs at Delta on Friday.

Delta is undefeated through 10 matches this season having swept every game except Feather River College.