PIERCE BEATS EL CAMINO 3-0 TO ADVANCE TO STATE FINALS
by Matthew Robinson
In life there are times when something is meant to be. It was meant to be for the 2015 #2 ranked Pierce College Brahmas women's volleyball team to be in the CCCAA State Championships. The Brahmas claimed a hat-trick tonight, as they beat the #3 ranked El Camino College Warriors 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-18) in the 3rd round of the Southern California Regionals at Ken Stanley Court.
Pierce sophomore setter RACHEL LODS sent her team to the title game, with a hard kill shot that the Warriors couldn't counter. It's funny, that was her only kill of the game and it was one of the biggest kills in Pierce College Women's Volleyball history. That's something to ponder.
The Brahmas (29-1 overall, 11-1 Western States North Conference) with this win, advance to the CCCAA State Championship game at College of the Canyons to oppose the Foothill College Owls. There, the Brahmas will be going for their fourth state championship in the NABIL MARDINI era.
The Brahmas won all three sets by a five-point average margin of victory, but this game was far from easy. "We knew that El Camino is a typical team that's just gonna make you earn it," Mardini said.
The Brahmas are a team that is truly the sum of its parts and no one cares about individual success, as evidenced by the post-game comments of two-year starter and middle blocker CHELSEA LAWRENCE. "We all work so well as a team and share the confidence, and that's how we win," Lawrence said. To her credit she had 16 kills tonight, which is the most kills in a single game that she has had in her two-year career at Pierce.
Pierce was on fire in the first few minutes of the game, as Lawrence had the first kill shot of the night when she executed a hard shot to the middle of the court that no Warrior player had even a remote chance of defending.
But all of a sudden some errors and tips over the net got the Warriors back in the game after being down 5-1 at one point. The game was getting a little too close for Pierce's comfort at 7-6, but Pierce did something about that when outside hitter ZAIRE DARTIS executed a kill shot to the left side of the court that EC's left side couldn't handle. Dartis' momentum swinging shot gave the Brahmas an 8-6 advantage.
Dartis was key in the first set, as she took care of a good portion of the Brahmas' kill shots from the left side of the court. It was players like Dartis who kept the Warriors at bay for most of this game. "I tried to go up with authority and just shut them [El Camino] down," Dartis said. "When I go in, I try to affect my team with my intensity."
Later, Lawrence came through with a kill shot on the left side of El Camino's side of the court to tie the game at 15-15.
Self-inflicted serving errors and out of bounds shots, helped keep the Warriors from getting even bigger leads throughout the latter stages of the first set. And the Brahmas took advantage of that.
Dartis gave the Brahmas a 20-19 lead when she served a soft shot over the net that the Warriors couldn't handle.
Lawrence gave the Brahmas a 24-22 lead when served a hard shot over the net. But she wasn't done tormenting the Warriors in the first set. She ended the first set with a hard shot over the net that only one player on the Warriors touched, which gave the Brahmas a 25-23 victory in the first set.
Brahma freshman outside hitter TAMIA FILES who had 3 kills of her own, summed up this game----especially the first set----in a few sentences. "El Camino's a good team, Files said. They played hard, they [just] didn't deliver like they usually do."
There was a lot more intensity from both teams in the second set.
Once upon a time it was 2-2, then it got ugly quickly, with the Brahmas taking an 8-2 lead which forced the Warriors to take a timeout.
The Warriors got to within 11-6, when TAYLOR BRYDON of El Camino, served a soft shot over the net that two Brahmas couldn't handle.
The only element of the second set that really did in the Brahmas or kept the Warriors in it, was assorted sets that were hit too hard out of bounds. But other than that, the Brahmas had the second match in the bag.
But the Warriors wouldn't go away without a fight. The Warriors got to within 19-12 when El Camino outside hitter NICKEISHA WILLIAMS, served a soft shot over the net that a diving Brahma couldn't handle which forced the Brahmas to take a timeout.
Later, a hard serve by Pierce College Libero DARRIN RICE, sailed just over the head of Warriors outside hitter BROOKLYN RUBIO which made the score 20-14 and helped give the Warriors some hope.
Later in the second set, Warrior outside hitter KEZIA BOYER took the score to 24-20 with a left side kill shot. But Pierce middle blocker LEANNA SCHOTT took care of any hope the Warriors had of coming back and winning this match, as she tipped a soft shot over the net and right in front of Boyer to give the Brahmas the win at 25-20.
The Warriors from late in the second set to the third set, started paying more attention to the urgency of the matter, as the Brahmas weren't in any mood to slow down.
The score soon ballooned to 16-11 when Lawrence led the way with her 2 kills in 3 possessions. It seemed at that point that Lawrence had enough of the Warriors trying to get back into the game. "I know that my team has confidence in me, so that just makes me want to destroy the other team," Lawrence said.
Her partner in crime, Dartis, once again helped the Brahmas cause as she served a kill shot, a very hard one, over the net to give Pierce a 21-15 lead.
But it was Lods who came up with the play that sent the Brahmas to the finals, with a hard shot over the right side of the net to give the Brahmas a 25-18 win.
photo by Esmelda Mendoza