The No. 4 Long Beach Vikings volleyball team lost against the No. 5 Cypress Chargers in the second round of CCCAA SoCal Regionals on Saturday night at Long Beach City College.
The match ended in the Chargers favor in 5 sets, 14-25, 25-27, 26-24, 25-22, 15-10. The Chargers advance to play Gavilan College on Nov. 30.
Freshman Viking Tylie Johnson ended the game with 24 kills and seven digs and freshman Viking Levila Losua ended with 57 assist.
The Vikings had an amazing start as they saw many holes in the Chargers game plan, winning the 1st and 2nd set.
Vikings Tylie Johnson had confidence in her team after the 1st and 2nd set, “With my teams performance in the season, I thought my team would eventually pull it out,” Johnson said.
The Chargers fixed their mistakes from the 1st and 2nd set with substitutions and came back in the 3rd and 4th set, forcing the Vikings to a 5th set.
Sophomore Charger Kayla Owens ended the game with 18 kills and 8 digs, and sophomore Charger Marina Pilkington ended with 10 kills and 5 blocks.
The Vikings ended their run with a 22-4 overall record, resulting in a better season than 2017’s 18-5 team.
Vikings volleyball head coach Misty May-Treanor liked the consistency in her 2018 team, “A lot of progress was made in the season but there’s a wake up call in today’s lost,” said May-Treanor.
Vikings assistant coach Tyler Johnson was very confident with her team but growth and progress still needs to be made, “I feel great with my girls, and I’m sure I’ll feel great in the next season but we cannot stop improving,” said Johnson.
The Vikings were visibly saddened because of Saturday’s lost but head coach Misty May-Treanor along with the rest of the coaches boosted their spirits with a speech of hope and reflection.
Beach volleyball is set to return it next spring along with Misty May-Treanor also returning as coach.