The San Diego Mesa College men's volleyball team are on the cusp of moving into the double-digit win column, the first time since the 2015. After an impressive run through many of the states premier programs last week, the team finds itself perched not only atop the conference rankings, but also received a #4 state ranking by the California Community College Men's Volleyball Coaches Association. Mesa sits behind #1 Irvine Valley College, #2 Long Beach City College, and #3 Orange Coast College.
Last Friday, the team traveled to Golden West College defeating them in straight sets 25-17, 32-30, 25-14. Similar to their first meeting, this game was once again closer than it appeared.
Notes from head coach David Proffitt
Game 1:
We got off to a great start with Colton Pillsbury getting the start at setter. Colton ran off 6 straight points to start the set. I decided to run a 6-2 system this match because I thought Colton was playing really well in practice and deserved the start.
Both setters play in the 6-2 system, but more importantly, we were able to add another front row attacker for three rotations when we run a 6-2. It also allows us to get more attackers on the floor.
We have more than a few great attackers and I wanted to get them on the floor as often as possible. Colton's and Richard's play at setter allows us to run a two-setter system. They are both highly skilled and have high volleyball IQ. I am confident they can run the team during each of their three rotations. We did have to work through a little growing pains as we got comfortable with the rhythm of subbing in and out of the game every three rotations, but I thought the setters did a great job of handling this.
Golden West closed the gap quickly to tie it up at 9-9. Game 1 remained close, but eventually we pulled away and won the set 25-17.
Game 2:
We had a good start and were able to build a 9-5 lead. We knew that they would claw back and we allowed them to tie the set at 14-14. With the momentum on their side, they took a three point, 17-20 lead.
We made some really out of character and sloppy play in this set. Errors that we don't normally make. At 17-20 I called a timeout to regroup and that we needed to play cleaner volleyball. We were giving way too many points with unforced errors.
The play of both Isaac Grant and TJ Letulilgasenoa got us back in rhythm and were able to find our defensive efficiency to tie the game at 25. From there it was back and forth. We were able to pull the set out with some great play by both setters. In the final 14 points played, Colton had 6 assists and Richard had 4 assists. We ended up winning the set 32-30
Game 3:
In the third set our attacking came alive partly due to some great setting by both setters. From an early 5-5 tie, we were able to break the set open and build a 5 point lead at 15-10. With tremendous serving by Colton Pillsbury and a huge bounce kill from Ricardo Lorja, we stretched the lead to 21-11. We closed out the set with a big kill from Aaron Cox, assisted by TJ. It was a good way to finish out the match.
Standouts:
TJ Letuligasenoa: 15 kills/1 errors on 33 att., .424 hitting eff.
Ricardo Lorja: 9 kills/1 error on 16 att. .500 hitting eff.
Colton: 32 assists, 11 digs
Richard: 14 assists, 4 aces
Roy Rojas: Lead the team in digs with 21, and passing eff. of 2.25
What's Next:
The 9-3 Olympians will host the 7-3 Santiago Canyon College on Wednesday, March 8. This will be the third meeting of the season with both matches going five sets. First serve is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.