Ninth Consecutive Win For The Lady Corsairs
The Santa Monica College (SMC) Women Corsairs volleyball team held a rematch against the Citrus Fighting Owls on Wednesday, Oct. 29 at the Corsair gymnasium. These teams first met in this conference on Oct. 3 at the Owls home, with the Corsairs successfully taking them down in three sets; 25-17, 25-20, 25-22. The only change this Wednesday was the scoreboard; 25-14, 25-16, 25-13, but the overall winner remained the Corsairs.
The Owls were highly anticipated by broadcasters to fight hard throughout the entirety of the rematch and possibly steal a set away from SMC based on the previous scores. “That’s the key point, the execution part of it. We didn’t do it well enough that evening,” Citrus head coach Shin Jung said, referring to their loss on Oct. 3, before the game. “So we had a great practice last night and some plays coming into today that they haven’t seen so we’ll see how that pans out.” Surprisingly, the Owls ended their three game win streak by stealing no sets with low energy on the court.
Sophomore middle blocker (MB) Aaliyah Freeman, who is considered a leader for Citrus per Coach Jung, went out in the third set with an ankle injury. An intense rally was in play, with both sides of the front and back rows attacking the ball back-to-back, when Freeman stepped down on her setter (S) Lily Whitney’s foot twisting her ankle causing a short delay of the game and her exit. Freshman Hannah Collins stepped in for Freeman, but the true fight in the Owls was gone.
Prior to Freeman’s exit, she carried her team from the middle along with Citrus captain Sophia Martinez attacking from the outside, aiding in finishing impactful kills. This sparked energy from Corsairs MB Nicole Lankton, who continued to challenge Freeman. If Freeman landed a kill, the next play Lankton was blasting one too. Lankton finished the match with 11 kills out of 18 total attacks.
The Corsairs had a small change in their lineup, with right side hitter Deavan Antoine-Dillon still on injured reserve and a few other players out this week with pink eye. Freshman outside hitter (OH) Savannah Wooley, and sophomore MB Marina Alexander, joined the usual starting four and proved that all the girls on the team have the range to play at a high level. Wooley contributed seven kills with five effective digs to keep rallies in play. Alexander finished with four kills and four blocks split between solos and assists. Both earned three service points for the team’s success.
“A lot of it also is I’m a whacky coach, and I like to play everybody,” said head coach Christian Cammayo after the game regarding the small change. “So I’m like that’s the truth on why the lineup changes. Not because they can’t do it, all these players are capable.” Freshman S and OH Ava Salvo joined the game late in the third set, completing four out of seven of her attacks against Citrus.
Before the full shift in the Owls energy on the court, long rallies went on between the two teams. The Corsairs had more urgency to their hustle with Mia Whitlock and player of the game, Annah Legaspi, teaming together in the back row and diving across the court to keep rallies in play. The Owls seemed to struggle with communication on the court, allowing balls to drop with no hustle and no consistent assists for their S Lily Whitney. Legaspi completed 24 digs with Whitlock and S Makena Gamby picking up 12.
The Corsairs are nearing the end of their season with only three conference games left. Playoffs begin Nov. 12. and possible championship games will follow in December. The next home game will be on Halloween Oct. 31, where the Corsairs will be dressed as Pirates at 6 p.m.