Prime Mover : Bellers’ Return Buoys Pierce in Quest for Title

Matt Bellers is not just a part of the offense at Pierce College. He virtually is the offense. And he has provided enough of it this season to lead the volleyball team into the state junior college championships today at Orange Coast College.

“He definitely is the key to our team,” Coach Ken Stanley said. “He’s an excellent player. He’s a very good attacker and he has that innate ability to hit all the angles. Plus, he passes the ball well, and that’s hard to find in a big player.”

Bellers, a 6-foot, 4 1/2-inch sophomore outside hitter who transferred from Cal State Northridge, can play on the right or left side. Setter Austin Johnson relies heavily on him to fuel the Brahmas’ attack.

“I think because we’re opposites, we complement each other well,” Johnson said. “I think Matt is a really key part of our team. If he’s having a great night, then the team gets really pumped up; if he’s having a bad night, then the team gets dragged down a little.”

But Johnson, a sophomore, does not think that Bellers alone will be able to give the Brahmas a state title, which Pierce won once before in 1986.

“I think we have a pretty solid team,” Johnson said. “But the key to winning it is going to be if we can stay in the game, as far as concentration is concerned.”

Bellers believes the Brahmas will be able to do that.

“I think we’ve worked long and hard,” he said. “It’s been on our minds; we’ve talked about it enough. Now we’ve just got to do it.”

Stanley agrees, saying, “Right now, I think we’re the best team. I don’t want to sound egotistical, because this doesn’t guarantee anything. But from a coaching standpoint, with the overall talent we have and the way we’ve been playing lately, I’d rather be coaching this team than any of the others.”

Pierce (16-3, 13-3 in the Southern Coast Conference) will be joined in the four-team tournament by Long Beach City (14-2, first place in the SCC), conference rival El Camino (11-5) and West Valley of Northern California.

Long Beach plays West Valley at 11 a.m. and Pierce plays El Camino at 2 p.m. The final is scheduled for 7.

“I’m ready, I want it and the whole team wants it,” Bellers said. “And we’re playing consistent right now, so there’s no reason why we can’t win.”

The Brahmas began really believing that last week when they were forced to play two matches without Bellers, sidelined because of severe head and facial cuts suffered when a neighbor’s dog bit him and 78 stitches were required to close the wounds.

At the time, Stanley said Bellers’ injury and subsequent absence from the lineup could actually be “a blessing in disguise.” The Brahmas proved their coach right with an emotional five-game victory over Long Beach and a win over Mt. San Antonio College.

“I’d say about 65 to 70% of our offense was Matt,” Stanley said. “The kids weren’t quite sure they could win without Matt, but in the fifth game against Long Beach, they just went out and took charge.”

Bellers admits that he likes “to be a force out there,” but “I’ve thought all along that we weren’t a one-man team.”

The rest of the Brahmas, however, needed to find out for themselves.

“When we had to play without him, I thought everybody else did a great job, and we probably won’t rely on Matt quite as much now,” Johnson said. “Plus it gave me more confidence that I could do it. It’s always been more difficult for me to set the middle; now I know I’ve come a long way, and we’ve come a long way together.”

Before Bellers sat out, Pierce middle blockers Mark Grondin, Terzian Douglas and Corey Davidson averaged just six kill attempts a match. The trio was glad to see other players get a chance to show their stuff.

“It established a middle,” said Davidson, a freshman from North Hollywood High. “I think that’s what did it for us. Just for team confidence, Matt being out of there was good.

“Of course,” he added, “Matt’s our ace in the hole, and if we ever need a kill for sure, we can go to him. But everybody else can do the job, too.”

That may carry over into today’s championships.

“I don’t want to just say, ‘We’re going to win’--but we are,” Davidson vowed.