Pre-Season Preparation
Monday August 29th the Providence Christian College volleyball team opened the 2022-23 season hosting Life Pacific University (LPU), officially kicking off their pre-season matches. There was a palpable excitement in the air as students piled into the student section and the Lady Sea Beggars lined up on the court.
This excitement exploded into the first set as senior, Cassidy Sanchez (SR/Clint, TX), started off the game with an ace, scoring the first point of the 2022 season for Providence. Life Pacific University held their ground, however, and the first set ended 11-25 in favor of LPU. Having won the first set, LPU had possession of the serve going into set two. LPU put their serve into the net, scoring Providence the first point of set two which proved to be a nail biter as Providence and Life Pacific went back and forth scoring points and ending at 18-25, again in favor of the Warriors. Set three was an incredible display of effort and athleticism from both teams, but the match ended 16-25 for a 3-0 LPU victory.
The Lady Sea Beggars hit the road on August 26th as they faced off against West Coast Baptist. Jacey Loewen (FR/Paso Robles, CA) came out swinging with 10 kills on the night, followed closely by Raquel Valdovinos (SR/Palmdale, CA) and Valeria Garcia (JR/Camarillo, CA) with nine and seven kills respectively. Cassidy Sanchez finished the night with twenty-one assists and Caitlynne Sanchez (SR/Clint, TX) with eight. Back on our home turf after winning the match versus West Coast Baptist in convincing fashion, the Lady Sea Beggars hosted San Diego Christian (SDCC) on September 2nd. There were some amazing plays from the Sea Beggars, notably Aniayia Harris (SR/Palmdale, CA) with an incredible spike in the first set and Jordyn Moser (JR/Prescott Valley, AZ) following suit in set two with amazing dexterity. Set one ended in a loss for our Lady Beggars, but they were able to work out some early match nerves. Set two ended with San Diego Christian winning 21-25, but Valerie Garcia displayed some phenomenal plays on the court that kept the Lady Sea Beggars within striking distance. It was set three, however, that left everyone talking. A truly nail-biting set! An Ace by senior Cassidy Sanchez on the second serve of set three left the crowd hungry for more action and boy did they get it! Set three was as close as you can get to evenly played match. SDCC would score a point, get possession of the ball, Providence would score a point and get possession of the ball, and back and forth they went. The match was even from the opening serve, with both teams using their two allotted time outs in order to make tactical adjustments and hopefully sway momentum. Ultimately, the set and the match ended with an ace from San Diego Christian and the Hawks winning 30-28.
In spite of the two home losses, the team morale for the conference season is still notably high! Coach Andrew was pleasantly surprised with the student turnout during the first game; she said that "to see wall to wall fans was awesome and I know the girls loved seeing that support." In regard to the games themselves she stated that, "We're proud of the girls! The pieces are there, we've got some things we still need to work on…but it makes us hopeful. There's a lot of things that we can learn from these matches." Coach Andrew is very optimistic about the season ahead. After playing her first match of her college career, Freshman, Isabella DeLeon is excited for the coming season: "obviously with the first game jitters, it's hard, but the chemistry is definitely there." Similarly, Junior Valeria Garcia, she said that she's confident in her team and that what makes the Sea Beggar volleyball team unique from others in the conference is that "our team still has that strong bond no matter what the result is and we only keep working to build each other up and I feel like that's the most important thing."
Catch the Lady Sea Beggars at home tonight at 6pm as they host West Coast Baptist before hitting the road to take on Park University – Gilbert, Embry-Riddle (AZ), and Benedictine University at Mesa.
Written by Kaitlyn Robinson