The Bakersfield College volleyball team has played 13 matches on the road this season and has a record of 7-6 on the road. Many of these games have come through tournaments the Renegades have attended. At home, the team’s record of 2-1 reflects the lack of home games the Renegades have actually played.
The road-tested team is 3-1 in the month of October, winning three on the road and dropping one at home.
Freshman right-side hitter Taylor Tafarella has been looking forward to getting back to the team’s home court for home match Oct. 22.
“I think its definitely been hard for us and put a lot of pressure on us because traveling is hard but I think we’ve coped with it really well and made up for it,” she said.
A confident head coach Carl Ferreira felt similar to Tafarella in that the team has gained a good insight through the travel.
“Being on the road is very fatiguing,” he said. “It takes longer to recover every time you’re on the road.
“But there’s a flip side to look at it, we are a very mentally tough team now. It’s been an imbalanced schedule to began with. But because we had some out of town tournaments, it seems like the bulk of our games are on the road,” he said.
“We will play anybody, anywhere, that’s our mantra what we talk about all the time. So we know how to travel and play but that’s a learned skill that this team has done very well.”
Overall, the Renegades are currently 9-6 and are looking to improve with a set of matches coming up at home against Canyons. The Renegades defeated Citrus College 3-1 by the scores of 23-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-23.
Coach Ferreira felt his team has began to embrace the experience he knew they could attain throughout the season.
“I think we’re starting to understand how to manage the game I would say that’s something I’m most satisfied with,” he said. “I think once you start understanding how to manage the game.
“In the sport of volleyball only the ball goes from side to side, there’s no contact with people. So understanding how to manage the game is a big part of just how you play, and I’m very impressed with our development in that area.”
Ferreira also mentioned how certain players have stepped up to help the team recently.
“We have numerous players that have stepped up in different capacities, but to name a few: Mary Maiocco, Mikinzi DeMarco, Samaiyah Wilkins, Amanda Escalante, and Jasmine Chisolm. But the four returners from last year have been great,” he said.
Tafarella was adamant about how the recent wins have spoken for the team’s success.
“I feel like it’s just shown, not only our team but other people, what we’re capable of and when it comes down to it, we’re going to win when it matters.”
Samaiyah Wilkins, one of the leaders on the team, spoke about how the team has gained some momentum at mid-season.
“We’ve grown closer, which has brought our game up, because you play as good as your relationship. So this past Friday, winning away was a good start to our momentum,” she said.
Both Tafarella and Wilkins praised setter Mary Maiocco for stepping up to lead the team recently. Maiocco, who has recently come off an ankle injury that sidelined her for a few games, has organized team bonding events and vocalized herself on and off the court.
“Basically, I’ve been planning team bonding stuff, taking incentive and holding people accountable.and at times being the grandma,” she said.
Maiocco also felt that through the growth, the team will find out where they stand come Friday when they square off against second ranked L.A. Pierce.
“We’ve grown in our relationship game, we’ve become closer and our communication with each other has grown a lot.
“I think we’re almost there, and Friday will be a very good test to see exactly where we are, but we’ve progressed a lot though. For example, freshman Erica Rico filled in for me when I was hurt, and she did a great job. I think she had three errors the whole match, which is really good to only have three errors and it being her first collegiate match.”
Wilkins was extremely glad to have Maiocco back healthy as well because she feels Maiocco is instrumental to her own success.
“I played phenomenal when Mary was first here. My kill percentage was above .400, which is a big deal. Then Mary got hurt and my kill percentage dropped to .100 so she’s been a big influence for our team. And now that we’re getting back in sync, my kill percentage has gone up and our team as well,” said Wilkins.
Ferreira was glad to see the way his team has progressed this season.
“Well I’m really happy, we’re a very young team that’s improved tremendously, really that’s all you can look for,” he said.
“My main goal is that we reach our potential as a group. That’s really the ultimate thing and we’re going in that direction so I’m very pleased with all the developments we’ve taken on.”
He went on to discuss the mass amounts of improvements they’ve made going forward.
“It’s been a great learning curve relative to how to approach being a collegiate athlete. Great learning curve based on how to prepare for practice, how to manage a game, how to be mentally tough within a game.
We’re having completely different conversations now so it’s really a complete transformation. It’s just game-by-game, we’re trying to be as good as we can one game at a time. Win or lose, we learn and get better for the next opportunity.”
Ferreira finished by highlighting the areas he feels the team needs to improve on.
“We’ve got to increase our overall kill percentage, and we have to serve a lot tougher.
“We take stats and always talk about the numbers don’t lie, so it’s a great way to measure our improvement,” said Ferreira.