Gilroy – It’s only three matches into the season and Gavilan has already bettered its win total in women’s volleyball from last year.
“It was refreshing coming in on the first day (of practice) and everyone had played before,” said Malie Ka’anapu, one of the holdovers from last season and the Rams’ court general. “Last year, we were warming up. This year, we’re ready to take it to the next level. We have good chemistry. We’re building and we’re only going to get better.”
Gavilan was good enough Saturday to outlast Feather River College, 30-19, 20-30, 30-24, 23-30, 15-10 at Bud Ottmar Memorial Gym. It was the second time in 18 hours the Rams had survived a five-game thriller and upped their record to 2-1 with the next match looming Wednesday at Monterey Peninsula College.
“We’ve practiced working on being mentally tough,” Gavilan coach Stephanie Pascucci said. “We never give up. Especially being short and not having a program as long as the other schools (we play against), we have to keep fighting and never stop playing.”
Pascucci was thrilled with the way the Rams came out Saturday, dominating play at the net and getting excellent passing. Just as suddenly, Gavilan looked dazed in the second game when short balls were dropping in and the communication broke down.
“You win the first game, you have to come back strong in the second game,” Pascucci said. “We didn’t.”
The third game was about as even as possible, with the teams never being separated by more than two points until the Rams reeled off the last four points. A Barbie Csore kill and Jenny Fowles ace highlighted the finishing run.
Once again the taller Golden Eagles took over the fourth game behind play at the net by Amanda Sbragia and Becca Rickert. Sbragia had 23 kills, Rickert had 16 kills and Jera Verboom had 15 digs to lead Feather River.
Gavilan picked up the intensity in the deciding game, jumping to a 5-0 lead. FRC rallied to tie at 8-all, before Csore took over the game with three kills. Ka’anapu’s second ace of the game closed out the Eagles.
“Fifth games are always tough,” Csore said, “because their fast-paced. It comes down to who wants it more because you’re going to have your runs and switches of momentum. You have to have the discipline to get it back and you can’t get down on yourself.”
That’s part of the thinking behind Pascucci’s tough practices. After all, the Rams are going to be vertically challenged against every opponent and there will be times during a match when the front row consists of the 5-3 Fowles, 5-3 Shanna Silveira and 5-1 Janet Unciano. They have to find the angles and the openings because when they are up against a taller unit at the next, straight shots will be blocked in their faces.
“Being smaller can be an advantage,” said Ka’anapu, who had 45 assists and four aces. “When other teams look at us they think we’re going to be easy. We have to jump higher, play smarter and know how to get around that.
Fowles had a strong all-around game with 11 kills and 11 digs. Csore had 11 kills and Silveira had 10 kills.
“It’s great to already have two wins,” Pascucci said, “But it’s most important not to be satisfied with that. This is just the beginning.”
