Men’s volleyball team loses in rematch against Golden West

Even with an impressive 10-kill game from Viking Alden Jacobs, the LBCC men’s volleyball team lost 15-25, 25-18, 20-25, 25-17, 15-11 in a close matchup against Golden West on Wednesday. 

LBCC dominated the first set 25-15, which was crucial for the Vikings as they had not won a set in their first meeting with Golden West.

“The first time we played this team was the season opener, there was definitely a lot of nerves going into that one that got us, a bit out of shape,” LBCC head coach Joshua Nehls said.

Following this dominant first set, Golden West would go on to win two of the next three, showing impressive skill throughout and much higher intensity. 

“We were getting blocked a lot. They were really fast on offense and on setting their blocks, so we just had to do something to match their tempo,” Nehls said. 

Golden West would jump out to an early lead in the final set and maintained it throughout, edging out a 15-11 victory and winning the match. 

_{Vikings men’s volleyball player Ryder Tuaolo hits the ball against Golden West during their match on Wednesday at the Long Beach City College Hall of Champions. The Vikings lost the match 3-2, which makes the Vikings’ record 5-4. (Alexandra Rios)}

“Today, I think we saw what we can do and what we are able to achieve. Now, the challenge is gonna be finding that consistency and just rolling with it,” Jacobs said. 

While this loss may not have been the outcome LBCC had hoped for, the team is taking out several different positives from the game. 

“I think we made a lot of different hustle plays, with lots of them going all the way to the wall or past the net,” middle blocker for the Vikings, Jerami Jeffer,y said. 

Matches that go to five sets, as this one did, it can be physically taxing for the team’s best players to compete throughout the entire match.

“Our biggest thing is just protecting our bodies. Later in the game, we had some players that needed to sit out with smaller injuries and that didn’t help us,” Jeffery said. 

Nehls also noted the improvements that he and the team have witnessed through the first few matches of the season. 

“I think we’re very confident after this game. We’re watching these games, looking at what we want to get better at and seeing it show up during the game. We just need to make sure we do that at a faster pace than the other teams by the end of the year,” Nehls said. 

The Vikings, now holding a 6-4 overall record, will play their next game today at 6 p.m. against Moorpark College at Long Beach City College.