The Eagles women’s volleyball team has improved to an overall record of 16-4 after a dominant win against the Chaffey Panthers Oct. 13, 2023. With the win, the Eagles are now 5-0 in the conference and hope to remain perfect in the quest to win their third conference title in the last four seasons. With their 16th win of the season, the Eagles have more wins than last year where they finished 15-12. With a few more games left in the regular season, it will be interesting to see how they finish this year.
The Eagles won three sets against the Panthers without losing a set to complete a sweep. All three sets were one-sided and the Eagles won each set by double digits. In the first set, the Eagles started hot with a 5-0 lead over the Panthers and won the first set with a final score of 25-9. The second set was competitive at the start as the Panthers were able to capitalize on a few errors made by the Eagles. The Eagles started with just a slim 4-3 lead, and then another slim 7-5 lead. But the Eagles heated up and went on a 7-0 run to make it 14-5. The Eagles ultimately won the second set 25-12 and that was the only set in which the Panthers scored double digits in the game. The third set was a lot like the first set, the Eagles had another hot start that saw them taking a 5-0 in the beginning and the Eagles won the third set 25-7 to complete their sweep of the Panthers. In all three sets the Eagles outscored the Panthers 75-28.
When asked about the team’s performance, coach Serrina Eason said, “I thought our team came in and took care of business, we talked a lot about small details before this match, and each match that we’re in at this point of the season. Just coming in and working on our side, and I think our team on and off the court took care of the small details which was good to see.”
Sophomore outside hitter Mckenna Conklin had 14 kills which led the team. Conklin has 120 kills and averages 2.73 kills per set in 13 matches this season. Freshman outside hitter Carley Kruze had eight kills against the Panthers and is averaging 2.34 kills per set in 18 matches. Sophomore outside hitter Brooklyn Thomas led the Eagles in digs with 12 against the Panthers. So far this season, Thomas leads the Eagles in kills with 200 and is averaging 2.94 kills per set. Thomas also has 174 digs this season.
With 16 wins on the year, the Eagles have passed their win total from last year. The Eagles have been a well-oiled machine this year. When asked about the improvement from last year, Eason said “This year we have a strong sophomore class that came in and are ready to lead, and some of our freshmen are just really stepping up this year, and just playing as a team. We have dynamic players in every position. Just the team being able to work as a team and as a unit has really helped us with our record this year.” When asked about the team’s biggest strength, Eason said, “The strength is our depth. We have players competing everyday at practice so it pushes everybody to try to get better, they’re trying to earn a spot, and our practices are a really big indication of how we’ve performed so far, because it’s very competitive in our gym.”
The Eagles’ next home game will be Oct. 27 against Cerro Coso. Additional information for Women’s Volleyball can be found here.
