GRIFFINS DUO FINDS WAY TO FINISH PERFECT 43-0
It was 90 degrees in Saratoga last weekend when the Grossmont College beach volleyball tandem of Madison Bogle and Alana Embry found themselves at a crossroads.
Although they were 42-0 on the season, Bogle and Embry had lost the first set in the best-of-three match for the state championship by a 21-10 score. And they were down 8-4 in the second set.
Two days earlier, Bogle and Embry helped Grossmont College win its third beach volleyball team championship in the last seven years. Orange Coast College didn’t compete in the team finals.
Now in the 3C2A Beach Volleyball Pairs championship match, Bogle and Embry — playing their fourth match in six hours and their 10th match in three days — trailed a fresher team from Orange Coast.
“I couldn’t feel my legs,” said Bogle. “We were both exhausted.”
“I think pretty much all we had left was the determination not to lose,” said Embry. “We talked during a short break. Madi and I didn’t want to have it end with a 42-1 record.”
On the sidelines, their coach, Jamie Ivers, remained optimistic. She knew the makeup of the Bogle-Embry tandem.
“By far, they are best duo I’ve had since I starting coaching,” said Ivers, who has been at Grossmont College since 2006.
“What really sets them apart is their emotional fortitude … an absolute refusal to quit. They are so very tough when exhausted. Last Saturday was a phenomenal performance.”
Ivers then offered a statistic. Community college beach volleyball teams in California are scheduled to play four matches a week — at most. Over the past two weeks, Bogle and Embry played 17 matches through the regional and state tournaments in both team and pairs competition. That is at least six more than any other tandem.
After the 10-player
Grossmont College team won its state title on Thursday, Bogle and Embry faced two more days and seven best-of-three matches in the pairs competition, and in the heat that usually accompanies the competition. Bogle knows all too well what can go wrong in the “crazy” schedule of the state finals.
A year ago, Bogle and Lexi Morris were playing in the state semifinals when Morris suffered heatstroke. The Griffins finished third.
“I don’t really know how we came back,” said Embry. “Everyone who gets that far has skill. And we absolutely got destroyed in the first set. We both have a ‘refuse to lose, next-ball’ mentality. We look for ways to pick each other up and don’t dwell on a point we might have just lost.
“In the semifinals they picked on Madi. In the finals, they picked on me. We both had very positive talks and found ways to help each other.”
Bogle and Embry rallied from the 8-4 deficit to win the second set 21-18. Then
they won the rubber match 15-12.
“So much went into the comeback,” Bogle said. “Our trainers were pouring ice water on us at every break. Our teammates helped us.
“Alana and I looked at each other during the last set and almost simultaneously said: ‘We’re not going home 42-1.’ It was super amazing. We played our hardest. We were exhausted. When we got the winning point, we both collapsed in the sand.”
“Neither of us could get up,” said Embry. “We crawled to each other to celebrate.”
“Even if we didn’t win, we would have had an incredible record,” said Bogle. “But we weren’t going to lose. We play well together and have a great connection.”
It wasn’t always that way, however.
Bogle and Embry were first teammates eight years ago in club volleyball. “We butted heads,” said Embry. “We are very much alike, quiet and humble. It wasn’t a good combination when we were younger teenagers.”
Now a 21-year-old sophomore, Bogle went to Eastlake High School. Upon graduation, she accepted a scholarship to the University of Hawaii but decided to return home and go to Grossmont College during the pandemic. The 5foot-11 Bogle — “I’d love to say I’m 6-foot” — will next play for national beach volleyball collegiate power Grand Canyon University.
Freshman Embry, 19, attended Poway High School and was on a full volleyball scholarship at New Mexico State when she reached out to Bogle about joining her at Grossmont College. “One meeting with the coach is all it took.” Embry, who is 5foot-9 but listed in the program as being taller than Bogle, will be transferring to Hawaii.
With three team titles and two pairs championships since 2014, Grossmont College is the most successful beach volleyball program in California Community College history.