The volleyball team took the first match of the Cosumnes River College Classic after a dominant 3-0 performance against Lassen on Sept. 12.
The Hawks started the match letting up four straight points to Lassen, but followed with four unanswered points themselves. The tight first set ended with the Hawks winning 24-26 via a kill from sophomore middle blocker Abigail Siever.
“I definitely think we had our moments, but I think we adapted faster to what they were doing on the other side,” said freshman libero Carlie McCormick. “So it helped us to be able to change and execute more.”
Head coach Kari Nahlen said players who are willing to step up, such as McCormick, are vital for the team’s success.
“Today, we learned that there are girls on the team that are going to step up in crunch time situations and those specific girls, like Carlie, came out and really decided she wanted to make sure we were a good serve receive team,” Nahlen said. “I think our team needed that to have the stability to go through the rest of the match.”
The Hawks had a strong second and third set winning the second 20-25 via an attack error from Lassen, and the third 21-25 via a kill from Siever.
Sophomore outside hitter Jordyn Kwalwasser said trusting one another is important to succeed in games.
“We have to trust that the setters are going to set us a good ball. We have to trust that our back rows will be willing to take the ball if we get blocks,” Kwalwasser said. “We have to trust each other on the court for a lot of things, and that chemistry outside the court and on the court, is really important for that.”
Nahlen said Kwalwasser is a strong factor to the team and spoke about her qualities as a captain.
“She was our go to whenever we needed someone that needed to get the ball over, she was aggressive and someone who’s really making our team better, someone we need to have on the court,” Nahlen said. “That’s why she’s captain, and that’s why she doesn’t get taken off the court.”
The Hawks played their first in-conference game on Sept. 18 away against the Santa Rosa Junior College Bear Cubs and lost 1-3. They will play the Sierra College Wolverines at home on Wednesday after losing to the Modesto Junior College Pirates 2-3 on Friday.
*This story was updated to show a correction of the opponents name from Santa Rosa to Sierra.