Vaqueros find victory with an attitude

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Not long ago, Glendale Community College women’s volleyball Coach Yvette Ybarra had a long talk with recently retired football Coach John Cicuto.

Ybarra asked Cicuto for advice concerning the best way for a team to forge success and sustain it throughout the season.

Ybarra didn’t lose the translation or the message, which she gladly passed on to her athletes.

“He said you have to buy into a system to have a team,” Ybarra said Friday night after the Vaqueros opened their season with a 25-17, 21-25, 25-19, 25-22 nonconference home victory against Antelope Valley College. “That’s something I believe we can do.

“What you teach in practice, you want to transfer to a match. You do that by trying to be disciplined.”

For the most part, the Vaqueros remained disciplined against Antelope Valley (0-1). Glendale college, which went 6-17 and 0-10 in the Western State Conference’s Southern Division last season, seemed poised throughout the 95-minute match.

It played well defensively, especially after losing the second game in which Glendale college squandered a 12-4 lead.

“I would like for us to be as consistent as possible, and that needs to transfer over into communication,” said Ybarra, who received 12 kills and 18 digs from sophomore outside hitter Aya Nakano and 42 assists from sophomore setter Nicole Diller. “We are good at playing tough defense because we always want to be scrappy so that can win us some matches.”

The Vaqueros had their share of anxious moments, which included a late surge by the Marauders in the fourth game that cut the lead to 24-22. However, the Vaqueros sealed the win on a service error after overcoming a 7-3 deficit.

Glendale college, which began last season by winning six of its first seven matches, raced to a 7-2 lead in the third game and never trailed the remainder of the game.

“We knew after the second game that we needed to go back by focusing on ourselves,” Ybarra said.

Nakano, who secured all-conference first-team accolades last season, said the Vaqueros needed to start off the season on the right note.

“We have a team that’s talented and plays good defense,” Nakano said. “I expect it to be at a high level.”

Freshman outside hitter Carissa Mathijssen contributed eight kills and a team-high 22 digs for the Vaqueros, who will compete at 5 p.m. next Friday in a nonconference match against Rio Hondo College.