A dominant game from the freshman duo of middle blocker Ciane Slade and outside hitter Matthew Pennala lead to a clean sweep of Santa Monica College in a 3-0 victory on Wednesday in the first round of the California Community College Men’s Volleyball State Playoffs.
The win extended the Vikings’ winning streak to 17 and pushed them through to the semi-finals.
The Vikings struggled a bit on the defensive end at the beginning of the first set due to a lack of communication and some spacing issues and trailed SMC 7-2 after nine points.
After a couple of quick adjustments, the Vikings were able to comeback and lead the set 24-23 at game point. A critical kill from Georgi Binev clinched the 25-23 set win.
“There were a couple rough spots but the important thing was that we kept coming together, we didn’t let it affect us too much, and we were able to push through it,” freshman outside hitter Matthew Pinnala said.
The second set saw a dominant defensive performance from freshman opposite hitter Lucca Mamone who had three solid blocks and Slade who had back to back crucial kills and put the Vikings in the lead 16-11.
SMC was only able to score 5 additional points before the set came to an end due to a serving error from the Corsairs. The Vikings went on to win set two with the final score 25-16.
“I always take a deep breath and I always acknowledge everything that’s around me and just make sure to slow down in the moment, focus on my breathing, and just know that everything I worked for is gonna pay off,” Slade said.
The third and final set of the match had the Vikings coming out strong and establishing a quick 18-10 lead after a stellar performance from Pennala.
SMC was only able to score 8 more points before Pennala ended their season with a forceful kill and a 25-18 final score.
After the victory, Pennala acknowledged that there is still work to be done in terms of working better as a team in order to ensure they come out for their next game even stronger.
“It’s just really little things. We need to keep pushing, practicing hard, and we have a good system in place right now that’ll carry us forward,” Pennala said.
With this win the Vikings are now 18-1 overall and will move on to the second round of the California Community College Men’s Volleyball State Championships.
This extends the Vikings’ set win streak to 45. They have only lost four sets the entire season.
The Vikings take on San Diego Mesa College on April 27th at 7:00 p.m. at El Camino College in a fight for a spot in the championship game.