With the score at 23-20 in favor of the Las Positas women’s volleyball team, the Nest found itself collectively ready to celebrate. The Hawks were just two points away from winning the third set to complete a would-be dominating 3-0 victory over the Diablo Valley Vikings. Two points to get their first win in nearly two years.
But the DNA of the team returned them to form. They proceeded to lose the next five points, dropping the set 25-23.
“I think we kind of got in our heads a little bit and we kept making mistakes and just totally lost it,” Ainsley Wade, Hawks outside hitter, said. “We just need to work on consistency.”
The collapse set the blueprint for an all-too-common result.
The Hawks Women’s Volleyball team suffered a crushing come-from-behind loss to the Vikings on Wednesday, Aug. 28. The Hawks secured the first two sets 26-24 and 25-22, but with the Vikings cleaning up their mistakes, the Hawks would end up dropping the next three sets on their way to a 3-2 home opening defeat.
It is already the team’s fourth loss of the young year, with the Hawks winning only one set in their first three games that were all played at the Skyline Quad on Aug. 23. The last program win came on Nov. 9, 2022, when they got a 3-0 victory over the Skyline Trojans. The defeat to the Vikings increases their losing streak to 22 games.
Despite the result being the same, this loss felt different than the ones the team suffered in their 0-16 2023-24 season. The Hawks were held without a set in 13 of those 16 losses. Twice the team managed to grab two sets, but they never saw themselves hold a 2-0 lead. Against the Vikings, they did. And while they couldn’t convert it to a win, head coach Jamie Hadenfeldt feels the team is on the right track.
“I think a lot of tonight is you have a lot of new players on the floor,” coach Hadenfeldt said. We didn’t have a lot of practice time in yet, so give them some more time together, and I think some things will clean up a little bit.”
“They did some good things,” Hadenfeldt added, “I thought their passing and serving was good – they were low air from the service line tonight – which really kept us in the game a lot.”
After losing the third set, the game dynamic changed. The Vikings started putting more balls in play, while the Hawks found themselves missing and failing to convert on their attacks. Despite their increase in errors, the Hawks still had a chance to win the match in the fourth set, coming back from an early 9-4 hole to see it tied late at 24 each.
The Hawks would then take the lead at 25-24, giving themselves their first match point. Once again, they would fail to convert, losing the next three points and dropping the set 27-25.
The Hawks grabbed early leads of 3-0 and 6-4 in the fifth set. However, once the Vikings grabbed their first lead of the set at 8-7, they didn’t look back, winning the set 15-11, forcing the Hawks to walk out of the Nest with yet another defeat. But the Hawks and Hadenfeldt didn’t lower their heads. They recognized the fight that they had shown, and the already-evident progress they’ve made since last year.
Of the ten players on the team, seven are freshmen, including Wade and Taylor Huerta, two players that gave the Hawks a big boost with their attacks against the Vikings. It’s a young core that has Hadenfeldt looking further than just the rest of this season.
“I think it certainly helps to think about what’s going to happen for us next year,” Hadenfeldt said, “having a foundation of players that are a little bit more ready to play.”
Despite the confidence in the near and more distant future, the team still has a losing streak to address. Coming close is better than getting blown out. But ultimately, the goal remains to win games. So while the team can feel good about their early season process, at some point this young squad will have to find a way to break their streak — something they are more than confident they can do.
“I was super frustrated about it,” Wade said of the end result. “But I’m really proud of our team. I think we’re really good this year, and we have a chance to win.”
Top photo: Stefanni Santos in a loss to Diablo Valley at the Nest. (Photo by Luke Vavuris/ The Express)
Francis Kennedy is a staff writer for The Express. Follow him on X, formally Twitter @FRANCISK16571. Jaden Griffin is a staff writer for The Express. Follow him on TikTok @JayManzSports.
