The Virginia Peninsula Community College women’s volleyball team earned its first victory of the season last week, and the men’s soccer team opened NJCAA Region 10 Division 2 play with a loss.
Women’s volleyball
Ashleigh Yost, Kingsleigh Guinn and Berkeley Stenger led a sweep of Mid-Atlantic Christian University on Sept. 3 at the Boo Williams Sportsplex. The scores were 25-14, 25-23 and 25-20, giving the Gators their first win after opening the season with two consecutive losses.
Yost (Smithfield HS) had 14 kills and seven digs for the Gators, followed by Guinn (Kecoughtan HS) with eight kills and eight digs. Stenger (Peninsula Catholic HS) added 31 assists and 10 digs.
“We played great the first set, did not the second and third,” said coach Tommy Thomas.
The Gators never trailed in the first set and used a 10-1 run for an 11-2 lead. They stretched the advantage to 18-7 and eventually closed out the set on their second set point.
In the second set, it started out much the same as the Gators took leads of 10-3 and 20-13. However, a late charge by the Mustangs made it close before the Gators put it away on their seventh set point on a kill from Maddie Mahone.
A slow start to the third set had the Gators behind 8-5, but they took the lead for good at 11-10 and stretched it to 18-13, forcing MACU to call a timeout. A 23-17 lead dwindled to three but the Gators scored two consecutive points coming out of a timeout for the win.
“Too many unforced errors on us,” Thomas said of his team’s struggles after the first set. “We gave them a lot of points, a whole lot of points.”
He pointed to 16 service errors.
“That’s way too many,” he said.
However, he was pleased with the overall performance.
“They all played well,” he said.
Four days later, the Gators traveled to Louisburg College in North Carolina for a tri-match that also involved Caldwell Community College. However, they weren’t as successful.
They opened with a 25-19, 25-22 and 25-13 loss to Louisburg, struggling with their opponent’s serve, who had 13 aces. In the second match, the Gators lost to Caldwell 25-10, 25-16 and 25-5.
Soccer:
The Gators, playing with a depleted roster, lost 8-0 to Wake Technical Community College in North Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 7. It was the Gators’ first game in NJCAA Region 10, Division 2.
For complete schedules, go to www.vpccgators.com. For more information on VPCC, visit www.vpcc.edu.