Volleyball gets even with Citrus
November 18, 2015
Bakersfield College’s volleyball team continued its late season run through the Western State Conference, beating West L.A. College on Nov. 11 and Citrus College at home on Nov. 13. The wins were the seventh and eighth wins for the Renegades in conference play and sixth win in a row for the team, giving them a record of 15-10 overall and 8-3 in conference.
BC was matched up against West L.A. for its first match of the week, easily sweeping the Wildcats in straight sets 3-0 with scores of 25-23, 25-9 and 25-15. The win gave the Renegades the complete sweep of West L.A. after also beating the Wildcats in straight sets on Oct. 16.
“We already knew this team so we were comfortable with our game plan. All we needed to do was continue to execute,” said BC coach Carl Ferreira.
BC did just that, easily overpowering West L.A. in what Ferreira would call a “roster game.”
“This was a game where we got to empty the whole bench and everyone got to play. It was a roster game, and those are always good for team morale,” said Ferreira.
The leading scorers in the match for BC were sophomore hitter Daryan Heatchott with 12 kills and one ace for 13 points in total.
However, the team didn’t need much from their leading scorer as the BC defense never allowed West L.A. to score more than 15 points after the first set.
Going into BC’s second match of the week with Citrus College, Ferreira wanted his team to understand the importance of their rematch with Citrus, which beat the Renegades earlier in the season. Instilling his motto of, “Being a championship team means we play as a team and stick to our standards of performances,” Ferreira reminded his team of how every game matters this late in the season.
BC delivered on their coach’s words, coming out strong in the first set by winning with a score of 25-11. “We came out in rhythm and kept it going throughout the match. We’ve been in a rhythm all season and this was a huge win for us,” said Ferreira. The rhythm carried on into the next two sets as BC won 25-12 in the second and 25-14 in the third outscoring Citrus by 38 points in the match.
The wins moved the BC team into a tie for second with Santa Monica (14-10 overall, 8-3 Western State Conference South) with only one match remaining for both teams on the season. With the season winding down, Ferreira feels his team has improved enough to make a run in the postseason.
“We’re in, but we’re not in right now,” he said. “I’m not going to define our season on wins and loses. It’s about going 21 for 21, which means that I’m trying to impact those 21 girls I have on my team first. Wins come second.”
The team returns home for its regular season finale against College of the Canyons on Nov. 18 at 6 p.m. before learning their fate for the playoffs that are scheduled to begin on Nov. 24.
