Men’s Volleyball fell short of their ultimate goal of the season: making the playoffs. The Raiders finished with an overall record of 2-14 and 2-10 in WSC play, but first-year head coach Aaron Hedland felt the team accomplished many other goals.

“We didn’t make the playoffs, that’s what everyone looks at,” said Hedland. “But at the beginning of the season, we wrote all of our goals down, and we accomplished most of them.”

The team did have great games this season, winning in straight sets twice against L.A Trade Tech. For personal accomplishments Michael Esper, co-captain outside hitter, finished with 3.33 kills per set, good for fourth in the conference. Jamal Balkhi, libero/outside hitter, finished with 3.52 digs per set, trailing only Michel Silva of L.A. Trade for best in the league. Last, Nicholas Shoemate averaged 6.37 assists per set, and .33 service aces per set, both stats in the top six for the conference.

The Raiders were were close to their competition in all of their games this season, but could not get those extra points per set to get a win. Former Simi Valley pioneer Balkhi attributed that to a lack of mental toughness.

“We have to play to win the game,” said co-captain Balkhi. “Unfortunately, we were playing not to lose.”

Hedland looks to gain the upper edge on his competition in the offseason, by recruiting high school players, and visiting high schools to talk about where the program is headed.

Moorpark finished second last in the conference, but the team considered “short” by many, made up for it with tenacious defense, relentlessness, and toughness.

Hedland wants to further that philosophy in his returning players, and his first-year players he will get to meet in the offseason.

“We turned a lot of heads this year, and other teams are starting to note what we are about,” said Hedland. “ We look to practice hard in the offseason to get back to what this college was in volleyball.”