Delta College volleyball made a statement to the league teams during this year’s Delta Classic tournament held on Sept. 7 and Sept. 9
Mustangs played with such composure it seemed like the team had been there before.
With back-to-back wins bringing the Mustangs to an undefeated 8-0, Associate Professor and Head Coach Molly Hummel said she is excited for the Mustangs new beginnings as the team’s chemistry builds.
This was the team’s first tournament together as 11 of the 13 players are first-year players. “When you have 11 new freshmen and two returners it can be a difficult road, but I think a lot of it has to do with our team chemistry and how well they get along with each other,” said Hummel.
The Mustangs started the tournament against Shasta College, moved on to Cabrillo College and played a semifinal game against Lassen Community College. The team showcased defense and offense skills with a complete sweep of 3-0 each game.
Delta College advanced to the finals against the Feather River College (FRC) Golden Eagles, a top team in the Big 8 Conference. The Eagles’ brought intense energy and performance, leading the Mustangs to falter in the first set 25-21.
This gave Delta its first opportunity of the season to respond to being down 0-1.
By the second set both teams were back to back until errors made by FRC pushed the Mustangs forward resulting in 25-22 and tied the game 1-1.
“The atmosphere and the team we played is one of the top teams in California, so it just came like playing them,” said Freshman outside hitter Emily Vickers, who scored 7.5 points and 14 digs in the championship game about what was keeping the Mustangs’ energy up when the score was tied.
During the final set, nerves everywhere and time outs called after multiple mistakes made by both teams, Hummel made it her plan to get the team refocused and strategize where it was needed.
“We take that time to gather and refocus. Sometimes when it starts swinging the other team’s way we just kinda want to bring it back in and focus on us as a team. And I thought they did a good job coming out of those time outs with an urgency. They were able to change the flow in those moments,” said Hummel.
The Mustangs pushed on through the last set, remembering the tough lessons from previous games during the tournament, winning the last set 25-15 and ending the game 3-1.
“Lassen really prepared us for this game. I think they’re the first team to really push us and show us what we’re really capable of and just got us to where we needed to be,” said sophomore outside hitter Kiyah Irby, who earned a game-high of 27 points, after the victory for their game against FRC.