The Bakersfield College volleyball team is finding out that having players from the same area can lead to success.
The Renegades, who have a 6-3 record, have a roster consisting of only Kern County players. This is not unique, coach Carl Ferreira said.
“It’s been pretty common. I’ve relied exclusively on the local athletes. I think they are good enough to accomplish the things we need to accomplish as a program,” Ferreira said.
Ferreira explained that one of the main reasons he doesn’t recruit outside of Kern County is because of the difficulty of finding a place for out-of-town players to stay.
Ferreira added, “We just happen to have a lot of players locally who are talented and very skilled and able to play at the level we are playing at. I haven’t even given it a second thought to go elsewhere to find talent.”
Ferreira feels that there is an advantage to having all Kern County players on his roster.
“After practice, every day every kid goes home. So, I think that’s a great comfort that they have such a large supporting cast that supports them in all the things they do,” said Ferreira.
Ferreira mentioned that while recruiting is a key factor in selecting which players to recruit, it’s about the character of the player. “It’s just how they (the players) are as people. You spend more time with them as human beings then you do on the volleyball court. Having good people to work with is the number-one priority.”
Four players spoke about what it is like being on a team that has a hometown feel to it.
Sophomore setter Tricia McGowan feels that the team is sort of like a family.
“We all have known each other somehow, some way. I feel like we’re one step ahead of everybody because we all know each other. I have known almost every single one of these girls for years now. It’s just fun to all be on the same team,” McGowan said.
Sophomore right side hitter Vanessa Roach feels that the biggest advantage of playing locally is that it makes it easier to develop chemistry with her teammates.
“The girls that you play with, you’ve seen them in the past, and you’ve played against them in the past, so you kind of pick up on how they play. It’s somewhat easier to mesh with other girls,” Roach said.
Roach said that it is different playing with girls that she has gone up against, but she added, “You get to see two sides of the player. Playing against them you really don’t like that person because you are so aggressive on the court, you just want to terminate them. When you get to know her on the team, it’s nice to be able to see the other side of that person,” Roach said.
On Sept. 19-20 the Renegades went 2-2 in the San Diego Mesa tournament. In the first match of the tournament the Renegades were defeated by Palomar 28-26, 25-16, 25-16. In the loss against Palomar, Katie Cronk had 9 kills and 5 digs, while Brookey Holmes had 8 kills and 7 digs. In the next match the Renegades used twelve kills by freshman Reisa Fessler and 8 kills by Cronk to sweep Cuyamaca 25-8, 25-10, 25-11.
Holmes had seventeen kills and 10 digs to lead the Renegades to a victory over Riverside in 5 sets 25-18, 23-25, 25-17, 16-25, 15-6. Cronk added 12 kills and 10 digs while Fessler added 14 kills and 3 digs in the win over Riverside. In the final match of the tournament, Long Beach City defeated the Renegades 24-26, 25-23, 25-22, 25-21. In the loss to Long Beach, Cronk had 11 kills and twelve digs.
On Sept. 11, the Renegades were defeated by Moorpark College 25-21, 25-18, 17-25, 25-19. In the match against Moorpark, freshman Reisa Fessler had nine kills and three blocks, sophomore Cronk had seven kills, and McGowan added 27 set assists.
“We lacked a lot of rhythm tonight. It’s not for lack of effort. I thought they were very out of sync. We kept trying to find ways to solve problems to make it work for us. Sometimes you learn more from situations like that than you can from practices,” Ferreira said following the match. He added, “They (the players) need to learn in adverse situations they need each other more than they do at other times.”
Cronk had 13 kills, and Holmes had nine kills and three aces to lead the Renegades to a win against Antelope Valley College 25-13, 25-16, 25-16. Fessler added eight kills and four blocks while McGowan had 36 assists and four aces.
At press time the Renegades had yet to play a match at Cuesta. The Renegades next home match will be Sept. 26 against Hancock at 7 p.m.