Women's volleyball fails to put it together

The College of the Canyons' Lady Cougar volleyball team contributed to the array of Santa Monica Colleges' disappointing losses on the season.

Losing in three straight sets to the Cougars especially signified the little progress made by the Corsairs as far as team chemistry, as head coach Nicole Ryan stated that the team would be meeting up to work on communication issues after last week's loss to Citrus College.

The Corsairs might not have tallied the highest scores in any sets of the three-game sweep, but nobody can accuse them quitting on themselves.

Not only did they tough it out, but they struggled through the entire game by constantly alternating positions, a reoccurring experiment this season.

In the first set, things looked promising for a brief moment as freshman Meagan Hauser spiked the very first point of the game.

It was only a matter of seconds before the Cougars stole the upper hand though.

The Corsair defense was lacking in fortitude and had a far too many unnecessary out of bounds hits.

The Corsairs' shortcomings left them with a disappointing 25-12 at the first set's end.

"Our team chemistry is struggling," said Ryan. "No one can argue that they're extremely physical and we have the talent. It's the mental beast we're struggling with."

The Cougars scored the first six points of the second set, but freshman Amelia Keeling saw that as all the more reason to fight back.

Scoring several points, Keeling played a strong game for her Corsair team.

She was responsible for keeping many of the plays alive, especially in this set.

The offense fell off of the map after Keeling's performance however, and SMC ended up taking the loss again with a score of 25-11.

"We're way better than we played today. I thought this was going to be a close game," said Keeling.

"I think we let them get on runs a little too much."

Indeed, the Lady Corsair's downfall lied in their inability to prevent the Cougars from going on runs, as they lost the third game 25-12 after keeping it close at the beginning.

"I don't think this is the end of us," said Keeling. "I still have a lot of confidence in us."

The Corsairs will take on West L.A. College on Friday in hopes of a mid-season turnaround.