Coming off a split against Santiago Canyon College and Fullerton College last week, the San Diego Mesa College men's volleyball team (2-1) flexed its muscle by sweeping Golden West College 25-19, 25-12, 25-20. Compared to their loss against Santiago Canyon College, in which they built a lead early, only to let it slip away, the Olympians grabbed the lead and never let it go.

Although the team captured the first set, the coaching staff emphasized that there is room for improvement. "Even though we built a 9-3 lead, I wasn't happy with our level of play. During a timeout by Golden West, I mentioned to the guys that I didn't think we were playing up to our standards on defense," states head coach David Proffitt. "We were not playing disciplined both in our blocking and digging game.  Players were bailing out of their blocking responsibilities and out of position on the floor when digging. The guys quickly cleaned it up during the match, but it is going to continue to be something we work on in practice."

The team once again jumped out to an early 14-4 lead, eventually closing the set 25-12.  The major key of the second set was aggressive serving, which forced Golden West into difficult passing situations, taking them out of their system. The Olympians gathered 5 aces and only 1 service error. 

During the third and final set, and similar to the game against Fullerton College, the coaching staff shuffled the line up. Freshman Colton Pillsbury was inserted into the line up and created 11 assists, 4 points, and 15 total assists. 

Sophomore Isaack Grant also made his debut tonight. He finished with 14 kills, 4 errors on 25 attempts, and had a .400 hitting efficiency, which is impressive for an outside hitter. "I was completely pleased with Isaack tonight," adds Proffitt. "I see Isaack being a big part of our success this season."

Freshman Austin Kinnear also had a great night against Golden West College. Kinnear finished with 7 kills, 1 error on 19 attempts with a .316 hitting efficiency. Kinnear, like the other transfers, will play a major role on this team. Kinnear is a six rotation player and provided the squad with an attack from the back row along with his consistent aggressive serving. 

TJ Letuligasenoa was the stand out player of the night. Letuligasenoa had 10 kills and only 1 error on only 15 attempts for a hitting efficiency of .600. Letuligasenoa kill percentage was 66.7% on the night. He only has 4 total errors for the 3 matches played. "Some of the kills that TJ makes are literally magical," adds Profiitt.  "It doesn't matter where the set is, TJ finds a way to get to it and put it away. However, beyond TJ's talent and skill I am more impressed with his demeanor and infectious positive attitude on the floor. He never complains about a set and is always right there to pick up another player when they make an error. He truly is a pleasure to coach."

Next matches are this Saturday at Grossmont College vs.:

1 pm vs Antelope Valley College

4 pm vs Santiago Canyon College  

Entry to the game will be $5 at the door.