 |
 2004
California Community Colleges
Commission on Athletics
Women's Volleyball Championships
Presented
by the Stockton Sports Commission
at San
Joaquin Delta College, Stockton, CA
Sunday, December 5, 2004
Golden
West Volleyball Dynasty Reaches 12 Straight State Titles
(Stockton, CA)-Right before
the Southern California Regional playoffs, Golden West College learned it had
lost its No. 1 state ranking position after being seeded second in the region
behind El Camino College. So the Rustlers decided to show everyone this weekend
why they really deserved to occupy the No. 1 spot.
Golden West and Coach Albert Gasparian won an unprecedented 12th consecutive
state title Sunday, sweeping San Diego Mesa, 30-24, 30-25, 30-26, in the finals
of the Citi California Community Colleges COA Women's Volleyball Championships
at San Joaquin Delta College.
The Rustlers (25-1) used a giant performance by Cheryl Selenek, who set a state
tournament record-high with 30 digs in just three games, along with a team-high
11 kills. Selenek somehow was left off the All-State Tournament team despite
totaling 36 kills and a tournament best 71 digs in four matches.
Taylor Love chipped in 10 kills in 19 attempts (.474 percentage) along with
five blocks. In the second game alone, Love was at her best with six kills and
three blocks. Sarah Hudson added 10 kills and Ashley Miller had 40 assists.
Tournament MVP and freshman libero Katie Jackels delivered 25 digs and two aces
for the Rustlers, who recorded sweeps in all four tournament matches.
"We were a little upset going into the playoffs that we weren't seeded
No. 1," Jackels said. "I think it fired us up. We were really confident
as well. When we won, some of us were talking about being glad we weren't the
ones to end the winning (title) streak. It's a lot of pressure."
San Diego Mesa (22-5) and Coach Kim Lester completed its highest finish in the
program's history as the state runner-up after finishing fourth overall back
in 1994. The Olympians were led by All-Tournament selection Melissa Ford with
12 kills and 18 digs and Rayna Richardson with 11 kills. All-Tournament pick
and All-American Bri Beal had eight kills, a team-high 24 digs, and three aces.
Mesa eliminated both Taft (four games) and No. 1 North seed San Joaquin Delta
(in five games) earlier on Sunday and had played 12 games in all on a very exhausting
Dec. 5.
"Fatigue is always going to play a factor when you are coming out of the
loser's bracket," said Lester. "But Golden West is a team that doesn't
make mistakes. We played about as well as we could."
Overall, Mesa actually had more kills than Golden West, 46-45, but the Olympians
made 26 hitting errors, compared to only 16 by the Rustlers. The winning margin
of the three games was a combined 15 points.
Gasparian is a part of a record period that includes 14 state titles in the
past 15 years. No coach and program has such dominated a team sport in California
community college history. Cerritos College in 1992 is the answer to the trivia
question--what college last won the championship before Golden West.
When asked whether it gets old to keep winning the championship every year,
Gasparian responded, "What's the alternative? Losing. I think I'd rather
win it every year. For the players, it's always going to be a new thing for
the freshmen. So it's great to see how they react to winning it all."
"Going into the season,
if you had told me that we would be 25-1 and winning the title as easily, I
wouldn't have believed it. We had no depth this season and had we lost anyone
of our players, we'd have been in trouble. Selenek is playing at 120 percent
all the time and she was our libero last season. I can't say enough about (this
year's libero) Jackels, she was our MVP all year. She keeps the team playing
smoothly with her defense. Rachel Falco was our most improved player in 19 years."
Sophomores Selenek, Love, Falco, Hudson and Chelsea Carroll each played on two
state champion Rustler teams and close out their community college careers.
This was the fourth time since 1996 that Golden West finished off the state
title by winning at Delta's Blanchard Gymnasium.
2004 All-State Tournament Team
MVP-Katie Jackels (Golden West), libero, Fr.
Taylor Love (Golden West), middle blocker, So.
Sarah Hudson (Golden West), outside hitter, So.
Ashley Miller (Golden West), setter, So.
Bri Beal (San Diego Mesa), outside hitter, So.
Melissa Ford (San Diego Mesa), outside hitter, So.
Amanda Pfielschiefter (San Diego Mesa), middle blocker, Fr.
Cindy Stayton (San Joaquin Delta), outside hitter, So.
Sarah Buhr (San Joaquin Delta), outside hitter, So.
Lehua Yap (Taft), setter, So.
Janice Fonoti (Taft), middle blocker, So.
Tanya White (LA Pierce), opposite, So.
Final Finish:
1. Golden West
2. San Diego Mesa
3. San Joaquin Delta
4. Taft
T5. LA Pierce, Cypress
T7. Sacramento City, Butte
By Robert Lewis, COA
sports media representative
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