State Community College Volleyball Tournament : Golden West Has Off Weekend, Finishes Third

Not only did the Golden West College women’s volleyball team fail to approach the level that earned it the state’s No. 1 ranking this season, but the Rustlers didn’t even make it to Sunday evening’s state tournament final.

Golden West was upset by Chabot, 13-15, 16-14, 15-11, at Cypress College in the loser’s bracket championship match and finished third.

It was the second loss in one day for Golden West (26-3), which was defeated by Grossmont, 15-7, 15-13, 9-15, 15-10, in the semifinal round early Sunday.

Grossmont went on to sweep Chabot, 15-4, 15-13, 15-5, in the final to win the championship.

Chabot finished 21-3.

“We just didn’t have it,” said Al Gasparian, Golden West volleyball coach. “We just weren’t prepared defensively and that’s 100% my fault.”

Golden West, which won the South Coast Conference championship and was the No. 1 seeded team from the south, never really played up to its expectations.

The Rustlers struggled against Chabot in the opening round Saturday but won, 15-11, 15-12, 7-15, 16-14.

Then Golden West struggled in the second-round match against Santa Monica but won, 13-15, 15-4, 15-11, 8-15, 16-14, also played Saturday.

“We just were never really able to get it going,” Gasparian said. “It was a great year but just a bad weekend. We seemed tentative and afraid to go for it. I’m just not sure why.”

Against Chabot Sunday, Golden West even needed a late rally to win the first game. Chabot led, 11-9 and 13-10, before Golden West rallied for five consecutive points to win.

Sophomore outside hitter Laura Phillips had two kills, then Chabot couldn’t return two Barrie Dafforn serves as Golden West took a 14-13 lead. Golden West’s winning point came on Dionne Powers’ block.

But Chabot rallied in the final two games behind middle blocker Jessica Bennett, who had 12 kills in the three games and Ituala Sue Sue, who had 9.

In the second game, Golden West rallied from a 7-1 deficit with eight consecutive points to take a 9-7 lead. Golden West later took a 12-10 lead on Samantha Caldwell’s kill, but Chabot rallied to take a 14-12 lead.

Chabot finally won the game on Bennett’s spike.

Golden West rallied from a 10-6 deficit to take an 11-10 lead in the third game but Chabot scored the final four points to win the match. Bennett had the winning spike.

Christy Hooper led Golden West with 11 kills, and Phillips added 10. Dafforn had 28 assists.