Up two sets, with a 23-22 lead in the third set, the Hawks women’s volleyball squad took a timeout. They’d been in this position before, on the brink of victory before losing three straight sets in a heartbreaking loss. The sparse crowd filling the seats of the Nest couldn’t help but tense up. But in the Las Positas huddle, it was calm.
This time, they knew how to win.
The Hawks returned to the court after the timeout and comfortably finished out the set to defeat the College of the Redwoods on Sept. 5. Freshman Taylor Huerta spiked down the clinching point of the match, emphatically declaring there would be no dramatic comeback this time.
Their moment of celebration was brief, a short acknowledgment of victory before quickly moving to thank their opponents. Afterward, their team huddle featured a simple message: on to the next one.
The Hawks women’s volleyball team has turned their season around. After a gut-wrenching home loss to Diablo Valley on Aug. 28, where Las Positas won the first two sets and unraveled over the next three, it felt as if they’d never win again. But they haven’t lost since.
Las Positas won three straight after losing their first four of the season. This is the program’s first three-game win streak since early in the 2019 season.
The Hawks snapped a 22-game losing streak on Aug. 30, beating the Napa Valley in five sets for their first victory of the season. For team captain Mimi McKaig — one of the three returning sophomores and the Hawks’ libero — that win was extra special.
“So good,” Mimi squealed with excitement. “Like, that was my first win as a Hawk, and it was just new and surprised me, not to say we weren’t gonna do it, but it was a long set.”
That triumph was followed by dominant showings against the Columbia and College of the Redwoods, both of which Las Positas beat in three straight sets.
These victories haven’t just been monumental for the season, but the program as a whole. Before that win against the Napa Valle Storm, the Hawks hadn’t won in 21 months, making the victory that much sweeter.
“For me,” Hawks head coach Jaime Hadenfeldt said, “I’ve been sitting on the sidelines for a long time, so the win felt super good for me. And it wasn’t one that we came by easily, right? We had to fight for it. The sets were close, and so to just see them be able to deal with a little bit of pressure was good.”
The team doesn’t seem surprised by their current success. Out of the 10 players on the team, seven are freshmen, including Huerta and Ainsley Wade, the team’s two key outside hitters.
“I think that just there’s more volleyball experience,” Hadenfeldt said. “The experience, the IQ, is a little bit further along in this group this year, we’ve got a really talented incoming freshman class.”
This season might finally see the Hawks start a new chapter in their reconstruction. One that has certainly had its bumps.
The program’s inaugural season came in 2018-19, where the team finished 10-8. A slight decline followed in year two, finishing 8-14. Then COVID-19 shut down the whole program for the next two years.
The team then returned to even larger struggles, winning only three games in their 21 games. Their last win came on Nov. 9, 2022 against visiting Skyline. followed that up with an 0-16 finish last season. They failed to win a set in 13 of those losses and managed to win two sets just twice. The program entered this season with a combined record of 3-34 after the pandemic.
“Just knowing that it has been a while since we won a match, being able to get past that hump and make that happen was good,” Hadenfeldt said. “They expected that they should be able to get it done and so being able to go out there and get the actual thing done was just really nice for them.”
Despite not having won in a while, this team expected this turnaround. Hadenfeldt said the team came into the season looking to grab the program’s first winning season since their inaugural campaign back in 2018. To do so, Hadenfelt and this new bunch of players have been working on refining their team culture.
“Our culture and our character that we talk about all the time and try to refine in the gym is controlling the controllables,” Hadenfeldt said. “Staying in control of things that we can take care of, our effort, our attitude, our communication, our mindfulness.”
With 13 games still left on the schedule, the Hawks would have to finish 8-5 to accomplish their goal of a winning season. They’d also break the school record for most wins in a season with 11.
“I definitely feel like we are gonna get more,” Mimi said.
Top photo: Sophomore Taylor Huerta serves during the Hawks’ five-set win over Napa Valley College. (Photo by Allen Lewis/ Special to The Express)
Jakob Arnarsson is the Editor-in-Chief of The Express. Follow him on X, formally Twitter, @JakobA2004.
