The No. 5 seeded Moorpark Raiders’ Women’s Volleyball team took on the No. 12 seeded Pasadena Lancers in the first round of the 2019 CCCAA Women’s Volleyball SoCal Regionals Championships on November 26. The Raiders took home all three sets in a 3-0 sweep.
Moorpark Head Coach Adam Black discussed what he has learned so far this season where the Raiders went 10-0 in conference games and 16-3 in total.
“I’ve learned that success only happens if you’re able to stay in the moment, that’s something we try to stress every game. But we are human beings, so it’s really hard to do that sometimes. It was a nice lesson for us to learn with us coming out on top,” said Black.
In the first set of the night, the Raiders came out slow as they found themselves eight points behind the Lancers with the score at 21-13. The Lancers attempted to maintain their lead, but the Raiders caught up with a six point run, bringing the score to a tie at 23-23. The Raiders and Lancers then went back and forth scoring until the Raiders caught the lead winning the set 30-28.
Raiders’ outside hitter Megan Wall had seven kills throughout the game. Wall touched on the team’s slow start in the first set.
“We were a little shaken up because this was our first playoff game, and so we were kind of nervous. We have played Pasadena before but obviously they have improved and we’ve improved,” expressed Wall.
The second set started off smoother for the Raiders as they quickly gained an edge over the Lancers with a score of 12-4. The Lancers began fighting back harder as they tied it up 15-15. Finding their rhythm, the Raiders continued to increase their lead, ultimately winning the set 25-19.
Raiders’ outside hitter Kelli Cashman spoke about how Moorpark adjusted from the first set.
“I feel like we really wanted to show out. We beat this team in the preseason, so maybe we were too comfortable,” said Cashman. “Then once we figured out what they were doing, we made a good adjustment.”
The third set started off promising for the Lancers as they kept up with the Raiders. Eventually, Pasadena City started to fall behind after two kills by Wall and an attack error by Lancers’ outside hitter Erykah Wilson, which brought the score to 17-9 in favor of the Raiders. The Lancers attempted to catch up but were not able to as the Raiders won the set 25-17.
Wall spoke about what the team had to focus on in order to win more games.
“We took a second and said ‘We can do this, focus on us.’ In the second and third sets, we definitely did focus more on what we were doing, more so than what they were doing,” stated Wall. “That definitely helped us to come out and play our game, which allowed us to beat them.”
Coach Black spoke on what the team will practice for their next match.
“10% of our practice will be focused on who our opponent is, and try to prepare for them the best we can, but 90% of the time it’s going to be used for making sure we are dialed in to be good,” said Black.
The Raiders will advance to round two of the championships where they will face the El Camino Warriors on Saturday, Nov. 30. The Warriors are ranked No. 4 and defeated the Fullerton Hornets 3-2 in their first round.
