Santa Rosa
Junior College Women's Volleyball is off to a terrific start this season. They go into their third week of league play with a 3-0 record in the big 8 conference, and a 14-0 overall record. They played nine matches before even losing a game. There first real test came at the San Jose Invitational, the last weekend of September, where they faced Cabrillo College in the second round. They came out very strong in the first game with a 30-16, 18-30, 30-24, 30-32, 15-12 victory, but Cabrillo came back equally as strong in game two. Santa Rosa then took game three, but Cabrillo fought hard to pull out a tight one in game four. In the fifth game Santa Rosa came out on fire, switching sides at eight with a six point lead. Cabrillo kept fighting, but the deficit was too much to overcome. Santa Rosa won the match, with a 15-12 victory in the fifth. The next morning Santa Rosa had to face Delta College who has been the powerhouse in the big 8 conference for a decade. Santa Rosa came out very strong and controlled the first two games. After a slight let up in games three and four, Santa Rosa found themselves in a 2-2 dogfight. Santa Rosa regained their composure just enough to pull out a fifth game victory 15-13. Santa Rosa then went on to face Sac City in the finals. Santa Rosa had a fantastic start to the match in game one, and never looked back. They swept Sac City in the championship match.
The Bear Cubs were led by team captains Kaitlin Ferguson and Krista Mattos. Kaitlin was named the MVP of the tournament. Krista was named to the all tournament team, along with middle blocker Gina Sbragia. The Bear Cubs had key contributions from middle blocker Jenna Chandler, outside hitters Komera Tale, Cayla Robinson, and Allegra Amoroso, opposite Cassie Nelson, and defensive specialists Dani McNamee, Kerry Curran, and Caitlyn Hardisty.
After the San Jose Tournament, there was no time for the Bear Cubs to sit around feeling good about themselves. They had to face Sac City again in a conference match the following Wednesday. Santa Rosa prepared diligently in practice and in the film room. The Bear Cubs have a great deal of respect for Sac City and their coaching staff, and they were prepared for a battle. The match did not disappoint the expectations that came along with it. Games one and two were as tightly contested as they could be with Santa Rosa coming out victorious 32-30 and 33-31. In game three Santa Rosa took a little more control, and won 30-25. Shockingly, Santa Rosa swept Sac City twice in five days. They followed up with another three game sweep of a young, but very competitive Modesto team.

