(Pasadena, CA) The Mt. SAC Women's Volleyball Team may have ended its season with a loss, but that doesn't take away from a successful year.
The #17 seed Mounties lost, 3-0, to #16 seed Pasadena City College in the CCCAA Southern California Regional Play-In Round on Saturday night (11/17).
The Mounties, fell in straight sets to the Lancers 25-20, 25-17, 25-23 and finished the season just under the .500 mark with a 13-14 overall record.
Mt. SAC had a late-season push, winning their last five matches which included a five-set marathon to defeat Chaffey, to finish second in the South Coast Conference North, with a 5-3 conference record.
"I thought Shaianne (Palos) played really well and Janderi (Ceja) did a great job coming off the bench at the end of the third and running the offense," Mt. SAC Volleyball Coach Ali Carey-Oliver said.
In regards to the play off seeding, Carey-Oliver replied, "I could predict that it was going to happen. Our conference isn't as strong as a lot of others, even though we do well at the top of our conference along with Pasadena. We're always going to be towards the bottom of that playoff bracket until we can really break through and one of us starts knocking off some of those top ten teams. We're close."
Leading the way for the Mounties was outside hitter Jessica Morse with a match-high 14 kills. Morse averaged 2.53 kills per set this season.
Setter Brianda Valdez had 11 assists and libero Malia Carr led with 15 digs.
Sophomore Quotes:
Brianda Valdez, Setter: "As a team we came a long way and ended really, really strong. The chemistry and bond will stay with us forever. It's sad to see it all end."
Kristi Mertins, Middle Blocker: "It's bittersweet. I get a break but I don't want it. We didn't start off super strong, but we finished strong.
"Going into this season, I didn't know how this was going to work, but it turned out ok. I remember coming in (to volleyball) super late from my water polo game and as soon as I got to the gym at Chaffey I was in the game. It was tiring but I enjoyed the challenge of playing for both teams. I'm going to miss playing with everybody."
Editor's note: Mertins also played on the water polo team and was the goalie.
Malia Carr, Libero: "Late in the season we were just being aggressive, serving, passing, hitting and I just think we played great at the end of the season. At the second half of conference we picked it up and this is how we ended. It was a good season overall.
Lindsey Lane, Middle Blocker: "It was really exciting with our late season run, turning on those afterburners and really getting it going. We were going up the roller coaster and to see it come back down (loss to PCC) was very disappointing. It should have been ours."
Kierra Coatney, Setter/Opposite: "I think we finally started to buy into what our coaches were telling us and that really helps bring up everybody's spirits. Oh, this actually works!
Alysha Tullar, Outside Hitter: "We knew what we had to do against them (PCC), but we just didn't do it. As the season went on we all bonded pretty well. I'll miss it but beach (volleyball) begins soon."
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For additional information, please contact the Mt. SAC Sports Information Office at 909.274.4630.