On Nov. 9, the Bakersfield College volleyball team traveled to Glendale College and put together a solid match in defeating the Vaqueros in straight sets 25-17, 25-13, 25-16.
BC made the playoffs, but they won’t know who they will play until Nov. 18.
Leading the way for the Renegades was Caitlin Bernardin with 18 kills and 14 digs, Edithza Urias had 15 kills and Samantha Whittington had 35 assists to go along with 10 digs. They have won eight of their last nine games, and are 19-5 on the season not counting the Nov. 14 game against Santa Monica College because the paper was sent to the press before that game was played.Against College of the Canyons on Nov. 2, BC continued their strong play and came away with a straight sets win at Canyons. They won the first game 25-9, but it tightened in the final two, winning those 25-21 and 25-23.
BC head coach Carl Ferreira offered a few words on where his team currently stands, “What we’re trying to do is focus on two things, we’re trying to take care of everything that’s in front of us, and at the same time be able to understand the big picture. We’re trying to generate some competitive momentum for something that’s down the road. We want to put together solid performance after solid performance because when it comes time for the post season, that’s what you’ve got to do, it’s just survive and advance. We’ve got to put together about four to six solid performances in a row. So at this point, it’s less about whom you play, and more of how you play.”
It was a match that brought some redemption against Citrus College at Bakersfield on Oct. 31. They had lost to Citrus on Oct. 5, and it was their only loss against someone other than Pierce College. This time however, it was a straight set victory for BC, 25-23, 25-16, 25-19.Ferreira was very pleased in how his team responded in those matches.
“We started last week tied in the conference with both these teams, and so we finished the week, and we beat both the teams we were tied with, and more importantly for me, we executed really consistently, and that’s for me the best part of the whole thing. I can’t speak highly enough of this group and how consistent they are.”
BC standout Caitlin Bernardin talked about the Citrus match.
“We just really came out and we had a lot of confidence in ourselves and were focused on ourselves,” she said. “We believed in each other, and what we needed to do to pull through. I felt like we were keeping the pressure on them and not so much on ourselves.”
BC’s setter, Morgan Frazier, commented if the squad had a possible letdown the first time against Citrus since it was right after the Pierce match.
“The first time we played them, we thought we were ready, but I don’t think we were totally ready for it,” said Frazier. “This time, we came out with nothing to lose, we were inspired and we wanted it so bad, we just came together. I think we were really tired from the Pierce match, since we gave it our all, and then against Citrus we played hard, but it really wasn’t there.”
Frazier explained how she feels where the team is at this point of the season.
“Right now, we’re on fire I think,” she said. “We still have a long way to go and there’s always room to grow, but that’s the good thing about our team, that we’re all willing to keep growing.”