After winning the program’s first-ever Coast Conference
championship, the Gavilan College women’s volleyball team was
rewarded with the No. 8 seed in a field of 16 teams on Sunday, and
will host No. 9 Diablo Valley (15-8) in the first round of the
California Community College Athletic Association’s regional
playoffs on Tuesday.
GILROY
After winning the program’s first-ever Coast Conference championship, the Gavilan College women’s volleyball team was rewarded with the No. 8 seed in a field of 16 teams on Sunday, and will host No. 9 Diablo Valley (15-8) in the first round of the California Community College Athletic Association’s regional playoffs on Tuesday.
Match time is 7 p.m.
The Rams (16-7) locked up a share of the Coast Conference South Division title with Cabrillo College after a three-set sweep of rival West Valley last Wednesday.
The Vikings had been the thorn in the Rams’ playoff sides the previous two seasons. Cabrillo scored victories over Gavilan in the final match of the last two seasons to rob the Gilroy junior college of a berth in the playoffs.
Cabrillo also qualified for the playoffs and are playing in the bottom half of the bracket as the 11th seed.
The first-round home game gives the Rams some extra-needed comfort.
“We get a pretty good crowd at our home matches compared to some of the other (junior colleges) in the area,” Gavilan head coach Kevin Kramer said. “Having that crowd support is obviously awesome, especially since this is an area in which we haven’t played before. Being the playoffs, it’s kind of nice to have some familiarity with the surroundings.”
In a season of school records and milestones, including a nine-match winning streak in which the Rams won 27 of 28 sets, Kramer said his players are not settled with just the accomplishments of the conference championship and qualifying for the postseason.
“The thing that I was most surprised about was that they didn’t seem to be done with just those two things,” Kramer said. “They were excited, but at the same time they understood that getting there was part of the process so they can continue on with what they have been doing.”
Gavilan and Diablo Valley faced one another in a scrimmage back in August.
“We matched up pretty well with them,” Kramer said. “Defensively they are solid and they pass really well.”
The Rams have shown over the course of the season that they can battle back in sets and remain composed under pressure.
“If you lose you’re done, so that’s automatic pressure on you,” Kramer said. “And it’s spending time dealing with that pressure and understanding how to use that pressure to your advantage and not let it keep you down. I think if we continue on this upward trend we’ve had over the last couple weeks and work on one point at a time and executing, we will be fine.”
