By Kevin Camargo
Volleyball lost at home on Friday, after falling 2-3 against Pasadena City College.
East Los Angeles College won the 1st and third set, 25-17 and 25-17, respectively.
PCC won the second, fourth and fifth set, 19-25, 23-25 and 9-15.
“Today’s game was about redemption. We had to come in and redeem our level of play from the first time we played them,” ELAC head coach Elliott Walker said.
“Today was all about capability, strength, endurance and fight. That’s what (ELAC) showed today, and I’m proud of them.”
This is the second time ELAC faced PCC. ELAC also lost the first game when they played at PCC. Both of the games were played until the fifth set.
“It was crazy. This is one of the toughest gyms to get a win in. Coach Walker prepares his team so well and all of his players can do everything. They’re very skilled in all areas of the game,” PCC head coach Mike Terrill said.
“They put a ton of pressure on us right out of the gate and we were not ready to match up.”
Terrill said that he believes their three-game winning streak going into this game helped them push through the game.
“We lost a couple of early games in the season and we’ve been able to get over that hump, and now we feel confident in those situations,” said Terrill.
ELAC is predominantly a freshmen team with only two sophomores, so competitors usually have more experience over them.
“We want to keep perfecting what we do well. We understand where our base-level performance is, and we keep pushing one percent every time we get better,” said Walker.
“We looked at what offenses we did well throughout the season, what plays we did well (and) what situations we did well in.”
Although ELAC took a tough loss, the team said they learned a lot from this game.
“Today was a lot of highs and lows, but for sure we started off really well. We were doing our job and it was a tough match,” said Bela Gamboa, ELAC freshman outside hitter.
“Even though it was a loss. it was a good loss; we learned a lot.”
Gamboa didn’t play much in the first game against PCC, but in this game she had more playing time.
“We definitely worked more as a team than we did the other time we played them,” said Gamboa.
“We were determined to come in and play hard and give them the best game we possibly could.”
Walker said that he does not coach his team the same way every game they play, so they used a different offense and a different defense against PCC than the first game.
“This is what volleyball championship is about. You’re going to fight. You’re going to come out (and) you’re going to win (or) you’re going to lose. It’s a matter of performance,” said Walker.
Gamboa said that Walker is always positive toward the team and is motivational for the team.
“We definitely ride on the highs, get rid of the lows and move on to the next match and do what we have to do,” said Gamboa.
“We all worked really hard and I’m just really proud of everyone for giving it their all.”
ELAC is now 11-11 with only two games left in the regular season.
ELAC’s next game is on Friday at Rio Hondo at 6 p.m.