By Travis Gilmore
Western Sun staff writer
The Golden West College men’s volleyball team opened up a long home stand last week that began with two tough matches; one against Moorpark and the other versus Pierce College.
The Rustlers lost to the Moorpark Raiders in three straight games 30-26, 30-24, and 30-28, but quickly turned their fortunes around two days later by defeating Pierce College in four matches 30-27, 30-22, 31-29, and 30-21.
After the loss to Moorpark, Golden West had dropped to a 1-3 record and was in desperate need for a victory.
With superb play and a noisy home audience, the Rustlers were able to capture their first home-court win of the season.
Pierce College began the match with great intensity and for the most part cruised in with their first game win in their back pocket. But, early in the second game Golden West snapped out of their funk and easily cruised through the match, tying the score with one game apiece.
Outside hitter Ian Mckelvie stole the spotlight in the third game, and his stellar performance aided the Rustlers in a close 31-29 edge. Late in the game, Mckelvie scored four consecutive points and completed the night with a tally of over 20 kills.
Along with Mckelvie, sophomore Greg Smith was able to exploit Pierce College’s weakness with blistered kills down the middle, which paved the way for an easy Rustler victory.
The win was well deserved by the men, but you have to give a lot of credit to the Golden West supporters in the crowd. One player from Pierce College was quoted by saying “This crowd was rowdy, I’m saying that they got to us, but we normally aren’t used to this kind of noise.”
Golden West continues their home cooking for the next week with an exhibition match versus the alumni this Friday, and then continuing with a tough match against Grossmont College Wednesday, March 4 at 6 p.m.
