Tournament prepares Arabs for conference play
IMPERIAL — Imperial Valley College (IVC) hosted its annual round robin tournament on Saturday.
Held at IVC, five colleges in total had the opportunity to play a lot of volleyball in a short amount of time in the no-bracket tournament.
Arizona Western College (AWC), Cerro Coso Community College, East Los Angeles College (ELAC), IVC and Chaffey College competed against each other before the Arabs begin conference play.
Chaffey was a new addition to this year’s tournament as the college, which is based in Rancho Cucamonga, has participated in past years, but has not done so in recent years.
“This gives us an opportunity to see some teams and try out some different rotations. We saw some things that we definitely need to work on, but it gives us a little bit of time before conference play,” explained IVC head volleyball coach Jill Tucker, who has hosted the tournament for about 15 years.
The Arabs finished with a record of 1-2 for the tournament event. Their first game of the tournament and only win for IVC was against Chaffey in three sets, 25-18, 25-23 and 25-20.
“It was a good win for us. In the past we’ve always struggled with them, but we played really well,” said Tucker on her team previously playing against the Panthers.
The Arabs’ second match was a close lost against East Los Angeles. The match lasted five sets, with IVC winning the first set 25-18, ELAC winning the second and third, 25-18, 25-20, IVC wining the fourth set, 25-15, and ELAC winning the fifth, 16-14.
The third match for IVC was against Arizona Western, which Tucker didn’t consider a significant loss as AWC recruits their players through scholarship.
The Matadors won the match in the three sets, 25-13, 25-10 and 25-12.
For IVC sophomore Azariah Rodriguez, the tournament was a great way for her team to start the season.
“These games, we showed a lot of heart in the court. I think we carried and pushed through,” Rodriguez commented.
Compared to last season, Rodriguez described her team as hardworking and a family that’s all on the same page.
“All we could do is learn from the mistakes we’ve made in the games and play harder, more aggressive and more consistent, but I think this is a great start for the season.” expressed Rodriguez.