Bakersfield College volleyball team has won five of their last six games, most recently a 3-1 road victory against Cuesta College.
The win helped the Renegades continue to solidify their chances for a playoff berth.
Head coach Carl Ferreira has been pleased with the play of his young team as he had only one word to describe it – “Fantastic.”
The Renegades have a few games left on their schedule before the first round of the playoffs begin Nov. 23, including L.A. Pierce on Nov. 16.
“It’s time to have a lot of rhythm, and we’ve got great rhythm right now. That’s really what you play for is to put yourself in a situation to be where we are so you can’t ask for anything more than that,” Ferreira said.
BC will have the opportunity to be selected for one of the 16 spots available for the regional playoffs, with six of those being reserved for conference winners.
“We’ve played 21 matches, and we can’t go back and redo any of those. But to me anytime you’re on November playing significant matches that mean your ability to get into the playoffs, you’ve had a good year,” said Ferreira.
“So we’re happy to be in the situation we’re in and happy to be playing significant matches.”
Middle back Samaiyah Wilkins doesn’t see missing the playoffs as an option and doesn’t see the team’s seed as a problem, should they make the playoffs.
“We have a very good chance after beating Cuesta. We should be about a 14 or 15, but I’m not worried. I feel we’re going to kick some butt and play hard,” Wilkins said.
Freshman Ashley Simpson discussed an area of the team that hasn’t necessarily been a problem but more of a factor in some of the losses the team has accumulated this season.
“Well, I wouldn’t call it a problem, but we do have a very young team. Most of our team are freshman. So it’s really been like a mental part of the game. A lot of the games we would lose would be away games, and you have to go with a mental focus, and if you’re not prepared mentally then there’s no chance for you,” she said.
But nonetheless, Simpson is confident the team can pull it together and clinch regardless of their previous losses.
When you go into playoffs, it has to do with your overall record. The losses we had early in tournaments affected how the playoffs will go for us. But after we beat Cuesta it kind of knocked them out of playoffs. So I’m almost positive we’re going to make it. Unfortunately, we’ll end up at 14 or 15, so we’ll have to travel because we won’t be seeded high enough to where we could stay at our home gym,” Simpson said.
Ferreira reflected on the season so far and the growth of his team from the beginning of the year. “You always have to have ‘breakthroughs’ – that’s what we call them. You constantly have to grow. It’s a matter of consistently make sure you do the right things; make sure the team understands what it is you’re working on and put all your energy toward that. I love the fact that we’ve matured tremendously in so many ways,” he said.
“A long time ago we didn’t know how to manage games, how to tactically play against an opponent. We’ve become so much better understanding game plans and scouting reports.
For example against Cuesta with the third best attacker in the state and a top three scorer in the state, we really controlled really well. That’s a sign of great maturity and growth from where we’ve been.”