The American River College women’s volleyball team won the first round of playoffs 3-0, against Monterey Peninsula College at home on Nov. 22.

“I think our dynamic was a little weird, but I feel we brought it together at the end of each set and managed to keep it together all night,” said Mia Santos, ARC sophomore. 

After being down a few points in the first set, the Beavers dominated the game without giving any chance to the opponent to make a comeback. 

“When we were down in the first set we did a good job just staying composed and collective and still trusting each other,” said Shanaley Iakopo, ARC player. 

In every single set the opponent wasn’t even able to get to 20 points. In fact, they won the first set 25-17, then the second set 25-19 and the third 25-18.

ARC had a great performance, they built every single point to be ready to attack. Especially, an outstanding number of kills by Awelina Fakalata, who ended the game with 42 attacks. There were also rewarding offensive plays by Santos with a total of 15 attacks. 

The Beavers played together trying to reach and save every single ball. 

The statistics show a great number of digs by sophomore Aubrey Miller, with 15 and an overall successful play by all the players. 

Erin Modell had 14 aces and Margaret O’Brien had a good serving game with 15 aces. 

“We are not going to change very much,” Santos said. “We are just going to work on our rhythm throughout the week and just try to play like we usually do.”

And that’s what the team did during the second round of the playoffs against Sierra College, on Nov. 26 at ARC.

The Beavers brought the win home, with the score of 3-1 (25-12, 25-15, 23-25, 25-10).

The game was supported by all the Beavers fans, and according to Aurora Meneghetti, ARC player, it had an important role together with their game strategy. 

“What really helped with tonight was just the constant support from everyone, executing the game plan and just focusing on us and what we can do,” Meneghetti said. 

Same as the first round of the playoffs, the team brought all the energy together and stayed focused, with one common goal, winning. 

“During the game, we stayed present and leaned on one another through each point,”   Miller said. “This allowed us to truly enjoy the success of the win at the end of the game.”

The team statistics looked really good. Overall, ARC players had a great number of attacks, for example Fakalata with 54 attacks and Kylie Matthews with 28 attacks. 

The team was also ready to play a good defensive game, Sadie White had 5 blocks and Iakopo ended the game with 4. Also, the ARC team had a solid number of digs, for example Fakalata with 23 and Miller with 18 digs.

As well as in the first round of playoffs, O’Brien and Mondell performed a good serving game. 

The Beavers, as a team, had 93 attacks, 56 digs and 40 aces against Monterey Peninsula College. Against Sierra College, ARC had 140 attacks, 91 digs and 53 aces.

ARC players are excited and focused for what’s next.

“To get ready for States will just involve practicing and working on things,” Meneghetti said. “Focusing on what we can do and supporting each other to the end is the biggest thing.”

ARC will compete at the State Championship on Dec. 2 at Fresno.