Skyline Volleyball falls short for the second time on CSM Sophomore night.
On Wednesday Nov. 3, the Lady Trojans lost for the second time to the CSM (College of San Mateo) Lady Bulldogs with a final score of 3-0.
CSM who ranked NO. 18 (cccaasports) at the time of the CSM “Sophomore night” match had an obvious home court advantage. Once you walked into the gymnasium there were large hanging banners of the sophomore players, family and friends with signs and flowers and consistent cheering and applause that only died down in between sets.
Following up on their loss to the bulldogs on Oct. 18, Skyline had six more matches, including one more chance to prepare and take down CSM before the end of their season.
CSM outside hitter Iris Grant scored the first point with a kill of the first set and set the tone for the whole match. Skyline responded with some heated rallies but they were no match to some dominating cold blocks from middle blocker Inyah Hall.
With an obvious size disadvantage and a less notable record, Skyline focused on their back court defense and answered back to CSM with some devastating kills throughout the match such as from outside hitter Sasha Grett in the third set when the Trojans were only down 3-1.
Head Coach Nilo Mauricio and Assistant Coach Janet Berena McDowell, who are in their 6th year of coaching together at Skyline since leaving BHS (Burlingame High School), have been building a foundation for the Trojans to be successful.
Nilo noted, “our coaching staff tries our best to recruit high school players to play at Skyline and hope that there are girls who want to compete at a higher level.”
Coach Janet boasted that the girls who do play for two years at Skyline create a bond and they get a chance to continue to play a sport that they love.
“This year we went to Disneyland. The girls bonded and the team stuck together throughout the trip which allowed us to build a connection to each other.”
Despite back to back losses to CSM, Skyline demonstrated their tenacity, potential and skill, but technical errors such as stepping on the line during a serve or net violations did contribute to their loss.
However, Skyline outside hitter Jamie Carbral praised the team’s hard work throughout the season and expressed how excited the girls are to celebrate the season on their sophomore night.
The Lady Trojans had one last game following this loss. The last game would be played two days later on Nov. 5, against Gavilan College where they swept them 3-0. Skyline ended their season with a win on their own “sophomore night” showing recognition to their own 8 sophomores ending their season 9-14.
