It hasn’t been an easy start for the brand-new Gavilan women’s
volleyball team. Then again, good sports programs don’t get
established overnight.
Gilroy – It hasn’t been an easy start for the brand-new Gavilan women’s volleyball team. Then again, good sports programs don’t get established overnight.
“I have to remind myself of the situation we’re in,” said Gavilan head coach Stephanie Pascucci. “When I see improvement, I feel excited to see them improve on certain things.”
Over the past month, the team has gotten off to a 1-9 start.
Despite the losing record, Pascucci has seen improvement in certain areas of her squad’s game.
“In the beginning, we had a lot of problems with hitting out of bounds or into the net,” she said. “So we focused on that and started to get better hitting-wise. We’ve kept the ball in play more.”
The Rams’ lone win came in their first and only home game of the season. In the Sept. 14 match, Gavilan defeated Hartnell in four games, 30-15, 30-28, 19-30, 30-12.
In that match, the Gavilan attack amassed 26 kills, led by outside Shanna Silveira’s nine. Making Silveira’s performance more impressive was the fact that she played on a sprained ankle and made no errors.
Middle Sharleen Rojas, who has been the Rams’ main force at the net this season, added eight kills. Defensive specialist Nadine Gorena had eight digs and setter Malie Ka’anapu had 24 assists.
“That was really exciting. It felt good to get a win,” Pascucci said. “It was exciting to have a decent crowd to win (in front of). All the girls were really excited.”
The Rams took a hit when they traveled to the Delta Tournament, which featured 16 of the toughest teams in the state.
“We played Delta who ended up winning the tournament,” Pascucci said. “It’s a very established program. All the top players in area that don’t go on to Division I programs go there, so that was tough match.”
Gavilan returns home today against 5:30pm against Diablo Valley before beginning conference play later in the week. Pascucci believes a return to the home court could boost the team.
“I think losing just takes a toll on your morale,” she said. “So hopefully playing back at home on Wednesday, we’ll get that excitement back and it’ll turn from there.”
