After losing seven key players from last year’s 20-7 squad, the Bakersfield College Renegades have still managed to come out of the gates roaring with a two-match win over Ventura and Porterville.
The Renegades defeated Porterville on the road Sept. 3 with the scores 25-20, 25-20, 21-25, and 25-18. Sophomore Mary Maiocco led the Renegades with 52 assists and 18 digs to go along with .500 kill percentage.
Head coach Carl Ferreira spoke about how getting off to a strong start bodes well for the rest of the season.
“I think anytime you get off to a start where you end up winning, it helps validate everything you’re doing. But its just one or two games, then you have to self evaluate to see what you need to work on.”
In the first matchup of the season, BC beat Ventura with scores of 25-12, 25-22, and 25-21. That matchup was the first home game of the season for the Renegades, and Ferreira talked about the excitement of how playing at home helped boost the team’s confidence.
“It doesn’t matter, playing at home, playing on the road are two different animals, winning percentages at home are higher than they are on the road for a particular reason.”
Ferreira was just glad to get the season started and started the right way.
“It’s just nice to start to play, we need a lot of court time. Getting people active in the particular roles, you know practice is one thing but competition is completely different, so you got to transition from a training culture to a competitive culture,” he said.
“Our offense looks like we’re going to have some potential. We’ve just got to manage the game better.”
Coach Ferreira has a total of 18 freshmen on this year’s team but the lack of experience isn’t so much a concern for him.
“We have 18 total freshmen, and for women’s volleyball that’s a lot,” he said.
“We’re not returning a lot of experience but we’re very talented with a lot of potential, so bottom line is how long can we play and sustain our level of play with a high level of execution.”
The team does have sophomore Mikinzi Demarco, who, as Coach Ferreira said, is going to be someone the team relies on for the experience.
Also expected to be a player to look to is Mary Maiocco, a transfer student from San Francisco State University and Bakersfield High School graduate.
“Those are the two anchors you’re looking at to give a little bit of experience to start with,” Ferreira said.
“After that, everybody is going to contribute in one way or another. But it’s a team effort and everybody’s got to play their role.”
After taking a year off, Maiocco couldn’t wait to get back on the court.
“I took a year of last year so I was real antsy and excited, and the atmosphere helped.
When I was at San Francisco State it almost seemed like the school didn’t even know volleyball existed.”
One area Maiocco feels the team could use work in is IQ.
“When you go from high school to college, your volleyball IQ has to be more of the focus.”