The highly anticipated match between the Vikings and undefeated Sacramento City College didn’t have the result DVC had hoped for.
The Panthers controlled the net throughout the match, preventing the Vikings from getting in any kind of rhythm.
DVC made it difficult for Sacramento City each game but could not get over the hump and lost 3-0.
The first two games were a close 25-22 each, but Sacramento City pulled away in the third with a score of 25-17.
“In being so close, you do want to kick yourself afterwards when you [ask], ‘Why didn’t I?'” Kristen Kemp said. “It also shows us we need to work on finishing our game.”
Still hampered by injuries, Lilia Marcic and Krystal McCoy played at less than 100 percent.
Kemp was also fighting a virus, so the Vikings were not at full strength against the top team in the Big 8 conference.
“Sacramento brought out the fire in us and renewed our confidence in ourselves and in our play,” head coach Jackie Ponciano-Babb said. “Something that was missing over the last several weeks.”
But the chemistry prevalent during the Vikings undefeated start to the season show signs of returning to form.
“We watched some videos of our play on Monday of when we were undefeated and had that spark,” Kemp said. “And it is really helping in bringing that edge back.”
DVC used different strategies throughout the match to counteract Sacramento’s strong net play, including trying to tip the ball instead of spike it.
“Tipping wasn’t a strategy initially against Sacramento City,” Jenny Kawakami said. “But as the game went on, it seemed like that was one of their only weaknesses.”
But the Panthers quickly shored up their defense and shut down any of the attacks the Vikings tried.
“Our focus was to try and attack their middles with quick sets and different plays in the middle,” Ponciano-Babb said. “However when the match started we never established ourselves in the middle.”
As a result, DVC had to go back to its original plan of staying aggressive and swinging hard. “Unfortunately, that resulted in some balls going out on crucial points,” Kawakami said.
DVC drops to 12-4 overall but just 3-4 in the Big 8 Conference, sitting in fifth place above American River and the winless Modesto and Cosumnes River teams.
The Vikings will need to pick up victories against Sierra, Delta, Santa Rosa or Sacramento, if they want to move up in the standings and get a better shot at playoffs.
They were to play host to Modesto on Wednesday, too late for the Inquirer’s press deadlines.
DVC then travels to Sierra on Friday in a game the Vikings need to have to bolster their resume for a playoff push.
The loss to Sacramento City did not dampen the team’s optimism about its future.
“Even though we lost, we had more fun in the first two games of the match than we have had in weeks,” Kawakami said. “And everyone seems to be back on the same page.”