CSUB sand volleyball team ready for start of new season

March 4, 2015

CSUB senior Danika Youngblood spikes the ball over the net during the Blue-Gold Scrimmage at the Student Recreation Center Barnes Beach Volleyball Complex on Feb. 28. Photo by Bre Williams/The Runner

By Esteban Ramirez

Sports Editor

Following a successful fall season by the indoor team, the CSU Bakersfield sand volleyball team is looking to translate that success to its spring season.

“We’re really excited,” CSUB coach Olivia Simko said. “This will be our third season doing sand volleyball at Bakersfield and to be honest the girls really picked up where we left off last year as far as training. Last year, I had to teach them really a lot about the game and how it works, but this year they just came out here and knew what to do already. It’s a good start so far.”

CSUB will start the season with a double header at home on March 7. The Roadrunners will start against CSU Northridge at 10 a.m. and then face off against Cal Poly at 2 p.m.

“I want to make sure we just keep the momentum,” Simko said on trying to carry over the indoor team’s success. “As far as working hard, that’s not a problem because they are hard working girls but I want to make sure we have the same confidence and the same aggressiveness that we had on the indoor. I want to keep the momentum rolling and to know that anything is possible.”

Some of the key returners for CSUB include: senior Molly O’Hagan, redshirt-senior Mariah Alvidrez, senior Danika Youngblood, senior Eryn Riley and junior Hazel Perrens.

Simko said that unity is the strength of the team.

“They really support each other,” she said. “They communicate very well with each other, and that is a lot of stuff that they worked on for indoor and I want to bring that over to sand. [Additionally], they don’t give up. They really fight.”

She added that players do need more experience in the sand.

“It takes a lot of experience to feel comfortable and fluid on the sand. They’re lacking a little bit in their sand volleyball knowledge, but its something that we work on every day in practice. We’re definitely progressing greatly. Last year, we played PAC-10 schools and the majority of the top 10 Athletic Volleyball Coaches Association polled teams.

“This year again we will be playing against six of the top 10, but we will give them a run for their money. They are going for it. We know we have a tough season ahead of us, and I think they are going to have a lot of success.”

CSUB will dedicate the new Student Recreation Center Barnes Beach Volleyball Complex with a ceremony on March 6 at 5:30 p.m.