Huskies Fall 3-2 in Season's Final Battle
LONG BEACH, CA – The Husky volleyball team (12-13, 6-8 SCC) fell 3-2 in their regular season finale to Long Beach City (11-12, 8-6 SCC) Friday evening inside the Viking Arena.
Breanna Trujillo recorded her 9th double-double and Mia Madott recorded her 7th double-double of the season. Breanna had her season best of the night with 25 kills, 13 digs, and 2 aces while Mia had 15 kills, 11 kills, 1 block, and 2 aces, while sophomore Eriazmin Mauries swatted down 13 kills and 4 blocks to help pace the Huskies.
The Huskies opened up the first set with a 8-1 run to set the tone for the evening. LBCC soon caught up after several errors by middle hitter Eriazmin. Not rattled by the comeback, the Huskies pulled away once again forcing a LBCC timeout at 21-22. With big hitters posted at the opposite and outside positions, LBCC rallied back to take the first game despite 3 transition dig-to kill attacks losing the first game 23-25.
In the second set, the Huskies regrouped themselves and maintained consistent performance jumping out with a 9-3 lead and eventually resulting in two LBCC time outs 17-12 and 22-28. Leading the second set, Breanna cranked down 8 kills and Mia put away 5 that put the Huskies out in front. Breanna and Mia got assistance from Jessica Nunez who made four excellent defensive plays that gave the Huskies the edge and a 25-20 win over the Vikings.
LBCC responded in the third after being down 7-2. LBCC pushed a 14-14 tie which resulted in a 25-20 win.
Set four looked like it belonged to the Vikings, but things soon fell in the Huskies control with a late surge of digs, blocks, 2 service aces, and 12 attacks, from the Huskies that stunned the Vikings and freezing them on their home court. The Huskies came from behind to take the fourth set 25-23.
In the fourth set, the Huskies took the lead and went up 2-0 until after a two big attacks from Shanna Byrd #4. Shanna’s hits contributed to a 4-2 run. From that point on, the teams traded points. Both teams combined for 5 ties and four lead changes during the game.
The Vikings went ahead 14-15, after a mis-fired attack by middle hitter Eriazmin. Forcing a 14-15 time out, Coach Walker rallied the Huskies and set up the defense and offense. Armed with ammunition, the Huskies fired and what looked like a kill turned out to become a dig and transition attack by the Vikings. The Huskies dug the ball setting the motion for a thirty-second rally (pass-set-attack and block) that eventually ended with the Huskies outside hitter Breanna flobbled the ball at the tape of the net. The Huskies in an attempt to recover the ball shanked the ball under the net onto the opponent’s court ending the game with a 14-16 loss.
In a few post-game interviews, the Huskies had the following statements to make:
“Going into the game, we were excited and knew the game plan. I felt that we performedwell and made the adjustments when necessary”. – Breanna Trujillo
“Coach prepared us well! We did an good job from start to finish. We played hard”.– Brittny Marmolejo
"We improved as a team and had a better understanding of what competitive volleyball looks like. After reflecting on the season and the past, I believe coach has prepared us to handle more things than just the game. We have been prepared to handle life situations”.-Jenifer Martinez
"I was so impressed at our performance today! We played so well, we silenced the opponentscrowd, played with a purpose, and intensity, and played like a team”– Yeketrina (Katy) Makarova.
“Looking at the other team, and knowing the other coach, our team looked prepared,understood the purpose of stats (as they looked at them between sets to know how andwhat to do). Our team played with a higher level of purpose and understanding of the gameconcepts opposed to just walking on the court and hitting the ball. Our team used thedefense to its advantage and looked confident”. – Assistant Coach Antonio Boucher
Despite the mis-firing of what could have been the game changing attack, the team fought valiantly for the win executing a sound offensive and defensive game. Optimistic, the Huskies look forward to being a contender in the South Coast Conference next season.