Glendale Community College Women’s Volleyball Preview: Vaqueros vie for turnaround season
It is something that isn’t talked about much openly.
The 2016 season fell short of expectations for the players and coaches of the Glendale Community College women’s volleyball team. The Vaqueros had a 3-22 record and finished fifth among five teams in the Western State Conference South Division with a 0-8 mark.
“We haven’t really talked about what happened last season as a team,” Vaqueros coach Yvette Ybarra said. “But my middle blocker, [sophomore] Alexsandra Rodriguez, who is going to be an integral part of this team, we were talking and she said, ‘Coach, I just don’t want us to struggle like we did last year.’ And I told her, ‘Look, you’re not going to because this is a completely different team.’ That is the only time it has really been discussed and that was more of a one-on-one kind of thing.
“Although we do have some players this year from last year’s team, we really feel this is a different team and there is a different feel this year. It’s not that we want to leave last season behind because that team had some great players who we love, but we just want to move on and we don’t look back at last year with any animosity.”
The Vaqueros will field a team with six sophomore and seven freshmen.
Ybarra is hoping her players will reap the benefits of a new offseason program that she instituted for the first time.
“The majority of the players that we have here also played beach volleyball for me in the spring,” Ybarra said. “I started a beach program and it is a club program right now, but I’m hoping to move it to an intercollegiate sport.
“You can see where that experience has really helped them grow as players and it helped them to problem solve more without needing me to solve it for them. It has really helped greatly and I can see that since they have played together there is more of a communication between them and they are talking more to one another.”
Prior to 2016, Glendale finished sixth out of seven teams three consecutive years in conference. The team hasn’t had a top-three conference finish since 2009, when it was third.
Returning to help facilitate a hopeful turnaround are Rodriguez, sophomore opposite/outside hitter Adel Crissa Ortega from Glendale High, sophomore opposite Marina Manokian from Burbank and sophomore outside hitter Kee-Aira Shamburger
“The sophomore bunch in general is going to be strong for us and we are going to rely a lot on them,” Ybarra said. “But we also have some very promising freshman in and they look really good right now.”
Freshmen who will be looked upon to contribute are libero/defensive specialist Briana Salinas, setter Nareh Andriyacyan (Hoover), setter Caleigh Panzarini and middle blocker Jennifer Fasco (Hoover).
Ybarra said she expects defending champion Los Angeles Pierce College to again be the top team in the conference. Last season, the Brahmas captured their 14th conference title in 16 years.
The Vaqueros will open their season Aug. 31 with a quad tournament at Orange Coast College. Glendale kicks off conference play Sept. 20 at Los Angeles Mission College.
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