The women’s volleyball team came back from being down two sets to defeat their local Los Rios rival, Sacramento City College, on Wednesday at home.
The Hawks had a rough first set, losing 25-16 and fought harder in the second set, coming up short, losing 25-20.
“I’m so proud of the way the girls showed so much grit to come back from being down two and even down 21-24 in the fourth set. It takes some real heart and passion to come out with a win after all of that,” assistant coach Michaela Bennett-Wells said. “I’m just extremely proud of the way we played.”
Sophomore defensive specialist Kalina Joy Rivas said the team felt disappointed and that is what caused the team to push harder.
“I think it comes with being more disappointed and I feel once we’re disappointed, it forces us to want it more because I think we don’t come into games wanting it,” Rivas said. “I think we kind of go through the motions in the beginning so we dig ourselves into a hole.”
Sophomore outside hitter Jordyn Kwalwasser said the first set is what flipped the switch for them.
“I think after that first set, it was more of a reality check. We can’t just sit back and let this team beat us. We’re beating ourselves at this point,” Kwalwasser said. “Our coaches got angry. We got angry. We used that anger on the court, and we dominated the rest of the sets.”
The Hawks played a very tight third set with the game on the line, being down 24-21 at one point. The Hawks would score three unanswered points to even the score to 24-24 and would end up winning the set 28-26 by way of a bad set from Sac City.
The fourth set was dominated by Cosumnes River College, where they would go on to win it 25-13 via a kill from freshman outside hitter Kaylie Reyes. The fifth and final set was close, with CRC going on to win 15-11 after a service error from Sac City, which resulted in the Hawks winning the match. The final score was 3-2, Hawks.
“Ending off strong too with our chemistry and the intensity we did, I think that will help bring intensity to the start of our next game,” freshman libero Carlie McCormick said.
The Hawks were on a three-game win streak after Wednesday’s game, but lost to the Big 8 Conference’s number one ranked team, the San Joaquin Delta Mustangs on Friday, 3-1.