Sophomore Kameron Tufuga scored the game clinching point in the fifth set to send the Vikings to the semifinals as the Vikings defeated Santa Monica 3-2.
“It felt amazing. This whole season we’ve been working really hard in keeping the energy up. We’ve been doubted in the very beginning, so it’s nice to keep going and fighting,” Tufuga said.
The Vikings offense stood out in the first set where freshmen Mohamed Benrick and sophomore Shane Nhem scored four and five points which allowed the Vikings to win the set with a score of 25-17.
In the second, the Vikings offensively attempted to win the set but the defense seemed to lack consistency which Santa Moncia were able to take advantage of.
“I think the worst thing right now is the consistency. We start really well and then for some reason things are not working that great,” head coach Angel Nikolov said.
This allowed Santa Monica to take and tie the game multiple times to win the second set with a score of 25-21.
The third set did not go the way the Vikings wanted it to as the Vikings still seemed to lack consistency which allowed Santa Moncia to take advantage again and to win the set 25-17.
The Vikings were able to come back together in the fourth set and win the set 25-21 sending the game to a fifth set.
Santa Monica’s defense also lacked in the fourth set as Santa Monica miss played the ball in their own end of the court multiple times allowing the Vikings to come back.
In the fifth set the Vikings offense took advantage of crumpling defense from Santa Monica which allowed the Vikings to have a two and three point lead multiple times in the set.
This led to the Vikings winning the set 15-11 and the game sending the Vikings to the semifinals.
The Vikings lost to Orange Coast College in the semifinals 3-0 on Thursday, April 25th.