The Las Positas women’s volleyball team had a home conference clash with De Anza on Wednesday, Oct. 5. The Hawks entered the game with a 0-9 record, having close battles with West Hills-Leemore, and Monterey Peninsula. Conference rival De Anza entered the matchup with an even 7-7 record, winning three of their last four games, including a conference win against Ohlone College, conference wins are important to a team’s season as they decide who is seeded where when the conference playoffs occur.
This game started off with a highly competitive first set, a set that had the Hawks trailing by just three at the halfway point. De Anza then strung together multiple kills to win the set 25-12. This first set victory was heavily led by Adrianna Williams, continuing her strong sophomore campaign as she leads De Anza with 140 kills total on the season. However, LPC continues to improve game by game, as they find a steady rhythm.
The second set followed a similar storyline, with the Hawks jumping to a quick 10-8 lead contributed by Sophia Kim and Rachel Dayton, the two season kill leaders for the Hawks. After the smoke cleared from the second set, it was a 25-20 win due to the defensive abilities of De Anza, scoring multiple rallies in a row.
In the final set of the game, viewers saw yet another back and forth set, with multiple competitive rallies won by both sides. Ultimately, De Anza won yet again, this time in a score of 25-18. This was a great game to open conference play on, and had the Las Positas home crowd cheering on their Hawks every step of the way.
This game was a major victory for the Hawks, with clear defensive improvements in their return rates as well as the overall final scores of each set. Even with the results being clear throughout each set, this loss set the Hawks back to 0-10 on the season. In addition, the team is 0-1 in conference play.
As tensions rise, De Anza still holds a respectable record of 8-7, while being 1-1 in conference play. The Hawks are heading in the right direction as a program, and are making strides each set they play in as a team. They’ll look to even their conference record on Oct. 12 at 6:30 p.m. as they have a home contest against Cabrillo College.
Jacob Fogelstrom is a staff writer for The Express. Follow him @jacobfogie.
