The Santa Rosa Junior College women’s volleyball beat Folsom Lake to move to 3-1 in conference play, picking up their second straight sweep at home on Friday.
The Bear Cubs went into the match hoping to build on the positive start to their conference and make it consecutive wins, whereas Folsom Lake were in search of their first conference win of the season.
The first set proved to be a real nail-biter, as SRJC struggled to get into a rhythm. As the set progressed and Bear Cubs hit their stride, the set turned highly contested with the Bear Cubs scraping by with a 25-23 win, courtesy of a missed dig by the Hawks following a high-intensity rally.
SRJC kept their foot on the gas as they dominated the second set, winning it with a 14 point lead, 25-11. The set was capped off with an ace by outside hitter Katie Brenninger. This set highlighted a lot of positives in Bear Cubs head coach Ally Sather’s team, as powerful spikes and strong digs from the team helped set the tone for the rest of the match.
SRJC’s cohesion allowed them to prevent any significant comeback attempts from Folsom Lake, which set them up perfectly to capitalize and close out the set.
The third and final set of the night tested the Bear Cubs’ resilience as the Hawks looked to bounce back. The Bear Cubs took an early advantage in the set before Folsom Lake battled back and turned it into a back and forth matchup. Despite the resilience by Folsom Lake, SRJC outside hitter Madison Shaw put an end to the set with an emphatic spike, sealing the 25-18 set win and a 3-0 sweep for the match, keeping Folsom Lake winless in the conference so far.
Sather reflected on the team’s dominant performance.
“I thought we had some really good defensive rallies tonight that showed our ability to see the ball, read the ball, make adjustments on the fly,” Sather said.
SRJC setter Natalie Walsh was pleased with the team’s collective performance.
“I’d say we had a good performance this week finishing off strong with this win,” Walsh said. “We really persisted and all did our jobs resulting in the victory that we deserved. We have been working hard to improve and get to this point so it is very exciting to see these results.”
The SRJC Volleyball team will be back in action Oct. 2 at Sacramento City College.
