The women’s volleyball team won their match against Glendale 3-0 (25-11, 25-21, 25-23) Wednesday, solidifying their overall winning record at five wins and four losses.

The Lady Raiders have been working hard all throughout the preseason and know what they have to do in order to take the conference by storm.

Though they’ve had their struggles, both the players and coaches remain optimistic about the upcoming conference season.

“We have the potential to be really good and throughout preseason we have come a long way and gotten a lot better,” freshman setter Ashley Becker said.

Head Coach Steve Burkhart knows what it takes to be a championship team and, even though there are a lot of freshman this year, believes the good will outweigh the bad when it comes time to compete.

“I do believe we are going to have some bouts of inconsistency,” Burkhart said. “But we’ll pull it together.”

The Raiders have now been victorious five times this season and plan to continue that streak. Practices are longer, harder and more intense than ever before this season. The team has a goal in mind and that is to do well in the conference and take back the championship they lost last season.

The team’s focus is not just winning every match, but to constantly improve in every way they can. They have been taking their losses and using them to motivate them to do better in the next game.

“Losing has taught us what we really need to work on,” Becker said.

The Western State Conference is very competitive and has some of the best teams in the state, with Santa Barbara ranked tenth. The Lady Raiders have to bring their A-game to every match and every team they face.

“We’re going to have to step up our game and that time is now,” Burkhart said.

With a two-match winning streak, the Lady Raiders are confident in their abilities as a team and are really working hard to be at that next level. This Friday they take on Pierce College and are anticipating it to be one of their toughest games of the season.

“I’m optimistic we can hang in there and do some really good things,” Burkhart said.

The Lady Raiders have been working hard all season and this is the part they have been waiting for. They are determined to reach their goal of becoming conference champions and show everyone just how much their hard work and dedication will pay off.