On Wednesday, March 13, 2024, the Moorpark College men’s volleyball team hosted Los Angeles Pierce College, aiming to secure another win in the conference.
The Wednesday night match went to four sets, with the Raiders coming out victorious with a score of 3-1.
Moorpark’s team came into the first set strong, reaching a lead of 12-3. However, Pierce started to come back, achieving a score of 12-8. The Raiders pulled away, ending the first set with a considerable lead and a score of 25-13.
The second set began, and it was a much closer match between the two teams. LA Pierce put up a more vigorous fight, and the score was fairly even for most of the match. The Raiders were close to their opponents yet could not score more points, keeping an even score for most of the second set.
Pierce pulled ahead of Moorpark, and the Raiders stayed close in points, managing to tie it up before losing points again. Trailing 22-24 by the end of the second set, the Raiders managed to tie it up, 24-24. However, Moorpark couldn’t finish the comeback and lost the second set, 24-26. Each college had now won one set.
The Raiders pulled themselves together for the third set, coming out much stronger than in the previous set, and led the game 14-7. The team continued their more significant lead against Pierce throughout the third set, getting ahead by over ten points and winning 25-14. The score of the game was now 2-1.
Sophomore outside hitter Aidan Godfrey commented on the team’s comeback from the second set loss.
“We just dialed it in. Our first set we were dialed in, we kind of let it slip second set, third set we kind of locked it in and just carried out our game plan.”
During the fourth and final set, the match started much closer again, with the two teams battling back and forth for points. The Raiders managed to pull ahead once again, reaching a score of 18-7.
Pierce attempted to catch up to Moorpark but only got a few points before the Raiders defeated them with a final score of 25-12. With a Raider win, the final score would be 3-1.
Freshman outside hitter Tyler Linville also spoke about the team’s comeback from their loss in the second set.
“I think we did good coming back from that loss, we were all kind of in our heads but we all came together and I’m proud of how we brought that back.”
Sophomore Godfrey reflected on what the team did well in the Pierce matchup.
“We did a really good job passing,” Godfrey mentioned, “we passed really well the entire night.”
For their next match in the conference, the Raiders traveled away to Antelope Valley College on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. The team successfully defeated Antelope Valley in three sets. The team now has an 8-4 record for the 2024 season.
The men’s volleyball team will travel to Santa Monica to take on Santa Monica College on Friday, March 22, 2024. The team will look to extend upon its current four-game winning streak.
For more information on the Moorpark Raiders men’s volleyball team, schedule and upcoming games, click here.
