After a three-set victory (25-23, 25-16, 25-22) against Allan Hancock last Wednesday, the Lady Raiders fell to one of their toughest rivals, Santa Barabara City College. In just three sets the match was given to the visiting Vaqueros (25-17, 25-18, 25-16).
Both coaches and players knew how tough of a match this would be. SBCC has one of the best teams in the conference and Head Coach Steve Burkhart knew how much it would have taken for them to win.
“In order to compete with a team with that kind of skill…your margin of error has to be very, very small,” Coach Burkhart said.
There were errors made within the game that provided the Vaqueros with opportunities to gain free points. The Lady Raiders fought hard the entire match but several times were struck by bad passes and free balls.
“When you look at the match the difference is really in transitioning,” Burkhart said. “They were able to dig balls and get their passes on the net and run their offense.”
The errors were not all physical, as some were also mental. Knowing it was such a big game affected the way some of the women played.
“We always have so much heart when we play, but I think we let the fear of the game, knowing we had to win, get the best of us,” sophomore setter Ashley Becker said.
Even through the errors, several Lady Raiders shined. Sophomore captains Cierra Merz and Taylor Susim chipped in for eight and seven kills, respectively, while freshman Kendall Jacobsen recorded ten digs.
The Lady Raiders are viewing the game as a learning point and know they have a lot of work to do in order to be back on top.
“In order for us to really get into the playoff scene, we’re going to have to beat the rest of the teams and come back and probably beat one of the two [Pierce or SBCC],” Burkhart said.
The Lady Raiders take on Ventura this Friday and it is going to be another big, important game. The Pirates are the true rivals of the Raiders and the team has no intention of letting anything get in the way of this game.
“We haven’t lost to Ventura in ten years,” Becker said. “We have to win.”
Before the game started, there was a ceremony to retire former Lady Raider and 2003 AVCA National Two-Year College Player of the Year, Nena Siljegovic’s number nine jersey. She was a two-time WSC Player of the Year and in her sophomore season name the Ventura County College Athlete of the Year. The ceremony brought her mother to tears and the crowd to its feet.
