Tigers Volleyball, looking to go one better than last season, begins year 7-2.

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Author: Benjamin DeLuca|Benjamin DeLuca

The Occidental College women’s volleyball team began this season ranked 23rd in the nation after winning the SCIAC tournament and making it to the second round of Nationals last fall. With a roster of close-knit veteran players and a newly instilled sense of belief, the team hopes to exceed last year’s results. 

The Tigers kicked off their season with a game against George Fox University in Newberg, OR. If anything, it was a clear indication that the team is just as amped as it was a year ago. 

“It’s huge for us to win our first game,” co-captain Jessie Altman (junior) said. During the trip, the Tigers went 3-1 leading up to their first SCIAC match. 

The team started off SCIAC play Friday night with a tough loss to Chapman University, losing in five tight games 23-25, 25-20, 25-20, 20-25 and 11-15. Co-captain Logan Boyer-Hayse (Senior) led the match with 22 kills. The black and orange rebounded the very next day with a convincing sweep of Caltech, 25-13, 25-5 and 25-11.

“We were successful last season but we can do so much better,” co-captain Madyson Cassidy (Junior) said. “Now that we’ve been together another year we have good chemistry, and we have good freshmen coming in.”

Altman mentioned that none of the three captains, which include herself, Cassidy and Boyer-Hayse had won their opening match until this season. This may be a good omen for the team, and their stellar start to the season has only reinforced the players’ belief in their abilities.

Coach Heather Collins said that self-belief will be key in the team’s success this season.
“It took a while last year for the girls to believe they could beat the top teams,” Collins said.

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Aseem Mangaokar

Last season’s efforts culminated in a dramatic 3-2 win over Cal Lutheran University in the SCIAC final and a 3-2 loss to Colorado College in the NCAA tournament second round. Cal Lutheran, another SCIAC powerhouse team, enters this season ranked sixth in the nation. Many players on the Occidental team consider Cal Lutheran to be its primary rival, but refuse to discount the other SCIAC teams.

Cal Lu is always a big game for us so that is definitely one our team is pumped for, but our whole conference has always been good,” Alyssa Mort (junior) said. “I think the important thing for us to do is to take one game at a time and treat every team we play as if they are the biggest game of the year.”

Even the first-years on the team have adopted the rivalries of their new team, and seem determined to play a major role in the team’s success this year.

“I want us to beat Cal Lutheran,” Sarah Beene (first-year) said. “It’s an inherited rivalry because I wasn’t here last season, but I know it’s a big game.” Beene has already played in multiple games this season, and said she felt welcomed by the team from the start. Beene, playing in the setter position, has a team-high 189 assists on the season.

Cohesiveness between teammates seems to be another key to the Tigers’ success. Nine of the 14 players this year are upperclassmen, including six juniors. 

I think [the juniors] are all just trying to step up, be leaders, and use the past two years of experience to make this team the best it can be,” Mort said.

Collins noted that the three first-years on the team this season, Beene, Kandace Korver and Dana Michels, are connecting with the rest of the team earlier than usual, signaling a unity that will help the team down the road.

Oftentimes a new coach will take a few seasons to develop a successful relationship with the players. Collins hit the ground running. The Tigers’ SCIAC tournament championship marked a successful conclusion to Collins’ first season as the Tigers’ volleyball coach. Collins was quick to downplay any pressure on her to transcend last year’s results.

“The only pressure I feel is within myself,” Collins said. “My goal is to win the SCIAC championship and make it past the second round of NCAA playoffs.”

Support from the student body will be indispensable to the team’s success this season, according to Boyer-Hayse.

“Attendance last year was way up from the year before,” she said. “We want even more people showing up this year. We want to add more events during half-time and food at the games to get more people to see home games.”

Eager volleyball fans and anyone with school spirit can see the Tigers’ home opener against Cal Lutheran on Saturday just one day after they travel to Whittier.

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