The Moorpark College women’s volleyball team has opened their 2023 season to continue the positive momentum that the 2022 season brought the program.
On Sept. 22, 2023, the women’s volleyball team hosted the Santa Monica Corsairs in the Raider Gymnasium, hoping to improve their season record to above .500. The Raiders were 4-2 in home games this season.
Coming off of a massive 3-0 win against College of the Canyons, Head Coach Adam Black spoke about his team’s mindset coming into the game.
“Our mindset right now is to release the need to win, and to focus on the present; which has seemed to help us stay present so that we can perform,” Black said. “The minute we start thinking about trying to win, we start doing too much. It is important for them to focus on the here and now.”
Being 5-5 in the season so far, with plenty of games left to play, this young team showed their hunger, drive and determination to win, as demonstrated in the first two sets. The Raiders defeated the Corsairs in both sets, thanks to a handful of kills from freshman Cashe Olswang.
Returning to the Raider Gymnasium on a two-game winning streak brought the energy to the team and fans who showed the Raiders the love from start to finish. There was a heavy presence of fans for the Corsairs, making Raider Gymnasium a popular place this Friday night.
Moorpark College men’s volleyball team captain Aidan Godfrey spoke about the popularity of the volleyball team.
“I think it’s great that people are showing out for both teams,” Godfrey said. “It shows the popularity and love for the sport from all people.”
After a back-and-forth battle in the third set of the games, the Raiders pulled ahead of the Corsairs with powerful serves from freshmen Emma Songco and Gaby Schirado. Ultimately, the Raiders defeated the Corsairs 25-22 in the final set, winning in only three sets.
The drive and determination among the new rookies on the volleyball team were very clearly shown to the Raider Gymnasium, as many of last year’s team members had moved on to greater things. Head Coach Black spoke about coaching a younger team instead of a team with college experience.
“Coaching is fun when we figure out how to work with each individual,” Black said. “But I am excited to work with this group and just help them become better at what they want to do.”
After her rookie season, Libero Larissa Dakoske, who is in her second year at Moorpark College women’s volleyball, spoke about being a leader on this young team.
“I feel like I can’t come in and be as careless, I have to lead by example and set a good example,” Dakoske spoke. “At first, it was rough but once everyone learned to understand everything, we were a lot better.”
After this win, the Raiders improved their overall record to 6-5, being 5-2 at home this season. The women now have a three-game winning streak and only look to improve going forward.
With plenty of games left in the season, Head Coach Black spoke about his goals going into the rest of the season based on the win on Sept. 22, 2023.
“We’re nowhere near where I’d like to be in terms of being sharp at parts of the game, but we’ve certainly gotten better in significant pieces that we wanted to improve on,” Black spoke. “In those games that we lost, we were making a lot of errors but we wanna be able to keep those under control. Moving on, we want to keep working on things defensively.”
The Moorpark College Raiders will next take on rivals Ventura College in the Raider Gymnasium on Sept. 27, 2023. For more information on the Moorpark College women’s volleyball game, click here.
