On Friday, Oct. 18, Moorpark College and Mission College faced off in the Moorpark College Gymnasium. Coming into the match, both teams touted impressive records with Mission being 18-1 and Moorpark 14-4, setting up what would be an intense matchup.

This game lived up to the hype as each team fought hard for every second of the match. After five grueling sets, the Moorpark Raiders eventually emerged victorious 3-2.

This would be the Raiders’ biggest competitor yet, as Mission has only lost one game, but Moorpark was more than up for the task. Moorpark was looking to cause an upset, and to do this, they knew they would need to play at their best. Once the pregame festivities were over and the crowd settled in, the game was on.

The first set seemed to set the tone for the rest of the game as both teams were tied at five after the first ten points. Mission would start to pull forward as Moorpark would find themselves trailing 10-15. Both teams would fight hard until the end but Moorpark would fall 20-25 and drop the first set.

Head Coach Adam Black responded when asked if the team was rattled after dropping the first set.

“Yeah, we’re never rattled. Sometimes performance doesn’t match our mindset. So we just had to shift our focus to what we needed to work on or perform on,” Black said.

Down one set, Moorpark knew this upcoming set was a must-win in order to have a shot to win the game. With a new focus, the Raiders jumped out to an early 4-1 lead but made some mistakes that allowed Mission to tie the score at ten. After being tightly contested, Moorpark would begin to pull away and win the set 25-19.

After a hard-fought win and a close second set, the Raiders looked onward to the third set to take a 2-1 advantage. Moorpark would take a late 22-21 lead and would go up 24-22 in a crucial moment with a big block by Abby Montana that would swing the momentum and ultimately lead to a 25-22 Moorpark set victory.

Riding this momentum, the Raiders were in the position to pull off this upset. But Mission wouldn’t go out without a fight. They came out firing in the fourth set putting Moorpark in a 1-7 hole early. Trailing 18-23 late in the set, the Raiders made it as close as 22-24 but their time would run out and they would fall 22-25 in the fourth set.

When asked how to overcome a set full of mistakes, Grace Hazelton responded.

“We’re just gonna come in and work the same that we have been…working just as hard but kind of understanding [the situation] will lessen our errors and keep our side of the court more calm, let the other side make the errors,” Hazelton said.

Entering this fifth and final set, Moorpark had only played in a fifth set two times this year where they have won and lost one. In this crucial set Moorpark would jump out to a quick 3-1 start that would quickly evaporate into 3-6. The Raiders would battle back and forth with Mission throughout the final set. Moorpark called a timeout as they looked to regroup.

Following the timeout, the Raiders would tie the game at 14 and force a deuce to extend the game. Moorpark then took a 15-14 lead and ended it 16-14 as Mission was unable to respond giving Moorpark the dramatic 3-2 win.

Coach Black spoke about the dedication and passion for this team when asked about his takeaways from this game.

“Obviously I’m really happy we came out with a win. Mission College is a a really good team, they got a really great coach and they got some really good players…so my hat’s off to them for how they played and how they battled,” Black spoke. “We were just able to make some good plays there when we needed them. We didn’t play as well as we should have… but props to our girls for staying in the fight the whole time.”

The match was close and hard-fought from start to finish but Moorpark pulled away in the end and put up a whopping 41 kills. Of these 41 kills, Alesia Thomas led Moorpark with 16 in the game.

With this win, it will be Moorpark’s third in a row and sixth out of their last seven games. The Raiders looked to keep their winning ways going as they faced off with Pierce College on Friday, Oct. 25, earning a well-deserved week off. The Raiders emerged victorious in their game against Pierce, winning the match 3-0.

The Raiders will take on rival Ventura College at Moorpark College on Wednesday, Oct. 30. The designated “Pink Night’ game is sure to draw a crowd as the Raiders look to add to their winning streak.

For more information on the Moorpark College women’s volleyball team, click here.