Glendale Community College Women’s Volleyball Preview: Change could be good for Vaqueros
Change is being embraced by the Glendale Community College women’s volleyball team.
Since last season, the Western State Conference South has seen a shuffle in its teams. Gone from the conference is perennial powerhouse College of the Canyons, the defending champion that went undefeated a year ago, which has moved to the Western State Conference East.
However, one of the teams that joins the conference is another program that has enjoyed a wealth of success, Los Angeles Pierce College. Last season, the Brahmas captured their 13th conference title in 15 years and advanced to the California Community College Assn. championship contest, losing to Cabrillo College. Pierce won state titles in 2010-12.
The conference has gone from seven teams to five. Also gone are Bakersfield, Antelope Valley and West L.A. The conference retained Citrus and Santa Monica and added Victor Valley.
“We lost some teams that had been in our conference for awhile,” Vaqueros Coach Yvette Ybarra said. “But we will still be playing against teams like College of the Canyons and Bakersfield outside of our conference so we can get the experience and kind of see where we’re at. Pierce is a powerhouse with a great coach. That is a team that you hope you can just get in there and play against them.
“The conference is a change for us and I think it’s a good change. It’s going to be really interesting to see what happens this year because conference is so brand new.”
The Vaqueros are coming off a season in which they went 6-19 and 4-8 in conference, tying for fifth place with Citrus. It was a slight improvement from the the previous season in which Glendale finished sixth for the third consecutive season. The team hasn’t had a top-three conference finish since 2009, when it was third.
But with a dedicated team and their share of talent, Ybarra is hoping for good things from this season’s Vaqueros.
“I have really, really been enjoying this group of players,” said Ybarra, whose squad opens the season Aug. 31 in a quad-tournament at Orange Coast College. “It’s really been good so far. This group is just so good together and I think that’s why it’s been so enjoyable.
“The players have a positive attitude and they really have a desire to do well. If they don’t know something, they’ll ask questions. This group really wants to know ways they can improve and that’s good to see.”
The Vaqueros will take to the floor with a relatively young squad that features just four returning players. The returning sophomores are outside hitters Josselinne Lima and Tatinna Medina, setter Angela Basco and opposite Cello Mitchell of Glendale High, who was injured last season and saw limited time.
“We will have 12 on the team, which is perfect number for me,” Ybarra said. “Josselinne, along with Tati, will be key players for us. It’s great to have our setter back in Angela and Cello is offering some great leadership right now for some of the younger girls.
“We are also looking for some of the new girls to step up for us. They have been really good with that and the great thing is they are willing to be led. ...It’s not easy when you have 12 girls and only four are returners.”
Some of the new players Ybarra expects to contribute are freshman setter/outside hitter Deiasha Lariviere and sophomore middle Qwutaria “Q” Rogers.
“Deiasha is a really versatile player that can play more than one position and Q has just such an amazing vertical, she can jump out of the gym,” Ybarra said.
Also on the GCC roster are a group of area products: freshman opposite/outside hitter Jordan Lousararian and freshman libero Karen Andaya of Glendale, along with freshman opposite Marina Manokian and freshman libero Romina Torokian of Burbank.
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Jeff Tully, jeff.tully@latimes.com
Twitter: @jefftsports
