Sports Briefs
Women’s Volleyball Even though they’ve split the last two games, the Santa Monica College women’s volleyball team has looked better. Their latest win came against the West Los Angeles College Wildcats.
Last Tuesday, SMC played against the College of the Canyons Cougars, but lost 3-0 (20-25, 22-25, 19-25). According to hHead cCoach Nicole Ryan, the Corsairs had leads in each of the first two games, but their errors came back to haunt them. During the third game, freshman setter Kendall Beebe suffered a concussion, forcing SMC to make a substitution that put them off their rhythm for the rest of the game. Freshman outside hitter Hannah Pope led the way offensively with 11 kills.
But last Friday night was a different story. The Corsairs dominated West LA 3-0 (25-12, 25-14, 25-16), communicating often on defense and making minimal mistakes on offense.
“West LA was definitely scrappy, and did a lot of good things on their side, but offensively we overpowered them and we were in control the majority of the game,” Ryan said.
The win against West LA puts the Corsairs record this season at 7-10 overall, and 4-5 in their conference. Their next game is against Pierce College on Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. at SMC.
Cross Country
So close, and yet so far. Santa Monica College men’s and women’s cross country teams made significant improvements in their race, however they did not place at the Southern California Championships last weekend at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa.
The women did not place in the top 25, nor in the individuals top 19.
SMC runner Tess Turpin was the first to cross the finish line for her team in the 5k run with a time of 21.45.65.
“I feel good about my results,” said Turpin. “I have been working hard at practice this semester, and I did my very best at the race. Even though I didn’t make it to the state championships, I feel like I gave it my all and that is what really matters. I had a lot of fun too.”
Although the women placed second to last, SMC’s first six runners across the finish line set season best times. Turpin was only 15 seconds off from qualifying as an individual. She plans on staying focused for the rest of the season, and working hard to improve her time.
The men finished 19th at the event, the highest they’ve ranked since 2004. They were only one spot away from qualifying to the State Championship as a team. “As it turned out, they gave it a good effort, but came up short,” said Head Coach Eric Barron.
Daniel Redick stood out as a top runner for SMC. He finished 47th, and ran fast enough to qualify for the State Championship. He also placed first in the men’s individuals.
The Corsairs next meet will be at the State Championship on Nov. 17, at Fresno City College.