The Los Medanos College Mustangs Women’s volleyball team suffered a heartbreaking 1–3 loss to Contra Costa College in an active conference matchup on Friday night, with final set scores of 17–25, 25–17, 25–14, and 25–19. Even with a magnificently strong start and moments of high energy, the Mustangs couldn’t maintain their early break against the Comets.
The game easily began on a high note for LMC. The Mustangs came out confident and aggressive, taking the first set 25–17 behind sharp spikes and quick transitions on offense. The team looked in control, feeding off the energy from one another.
“The first set we won, we played well, and I feel like we got too comfortable,” said Coach Taylor Thompson, reflecting on the team’s performance. “Losing isn’t easy, right? It’s not always easy to keep up motivation after putting in all this work.”
That shift in comfort seemed to mark a turning point. In the second set, Contra Costa changed up their defense, locking up at the net and forced a lot more longer rallies. LMC struggled to find consistency on serve, and the Comets capitalized on mistakes to even it all up with a 25–17 win.
Momentum carried into the third set for Contra Costa, who found their flow pretty quickly offensively. LMC’s defense worked hard to keep rallies alive, but the Comets took control, widening the lead to a 25–14 third-set victory to take a 2–1 lead in the match.
No. 7 Mya Williams was a core motivator for the team, consistently keeping up the energy even while down. “Knowing we can do it, along with telling each other to be confident. That’s really all the drive we need.” By the fourth set, LMC was still fighting to try and grasp control. But despite their determination, Contra Costa maintained the lead, pulling away late to close the set 25–19 and seal the 3–1 victory.
Thompson was proud of her team but made sure to outline the importance of learning from the loss. “I always tell them, forget your mistakes and keep each other up, because that’s what they feed off of,” she said. “We can’t dwell on one play or one set we have to move forward together.”
The Mustangs energy was clear throughout the night, even when this game didn’t fall in their favor they looked to bounce back and recover. LMC’s front row battled hard at the net, and their backline defense was the anchor of the team against the constant attacks from Contra Costa’s hitters.
While the outcome was upsetting, the game also showed the team’s growth. Each player on the court contributed whether it was from just communication, or encouragement from the sideline.
Keeping that positive mindset for anyone after a loss that close isn’t easy at all, said Thompson.
“We’ve been working so hard in practice,” she said. “It’s tough when the results don’t immediately show that, they just have to trust themselves.”
Despite the loss, the Mustangs are ready to bounce back as they continue their conference schedule. With seven games still on their calendar, there’s many chances to bounce back.
