The Lady Mustangs Volleyball team faced off against two opponents, Yuba and Solano, on Aug. 26.
Expectations were high going into the game.
“We have a great group of girls who are working hard. We started our training in June and have been together all summer. Being back-to-back Big 8 champions does put a target on your back, but the girls are rising to the challenges and eager to win that title again,” said Coach Molly Mordaunt.
Team members expressed high aspirations after mild success in the previous season.
“I feel like our team is going to have a great season this year,” said libero Cammi Baumann, “I think we’re going to win big eight conference this year.”
It didn’t take long for the season to show promise for the Lady Mustangs by beating Solano and Yuba in six consecutive sets.
Outside hitter Dani Erdalatz, who’s now leading the Big 8 with kills (57) through four games had 14 kills against Solano and 21 kills against Yuba.
Libero Baumann leading the Big 8 in digs (97) through four games finished with 13 digs against Solano and 16 against Yuba.
The season is off to the ideal start for the Mustangs.
photos by Zachariah Merces-Spindler
“Starting the season off 2-0 gives our girls confidence. We have a lot of new players on our roster, the more experience they get the better we will be,” said Mordaunt.
Like any sport, there’s no such thing as perfection and always something to work on.
“Communication, definitely. Getting more confident with each other on the court. We’re really strong individuals but together we need to work it out with communicating a little bit more,” said
Baumann.
Erdalatz agreed.
“Communication, just throughout the play. We tend to talk a lot during the beginning of play and towards the end we start to get tired and we’re like not talking as much” Erdelatz said, “I have high hopes for this team. Obviously we want conference really bad and we want to make it to state especially since eight teams are going to state this year.”
Playing another double again on Sept. 2 vs Taft and De Anza, the Lady Mustangs won both matches improving to 4-0.
There are currently no rankings listed on the CCCAAsports.org website, but the team is tied for first in the Big 8 with Folsom Lake and Sierra all tied with 4-0 records.
The most notable stat about the Lady Mustangs is the 4-0 record, only losing one set out of the 13 the team played.
The next scheduled match is Sept. 9 versus Reedley at Delta.