GRIFFINS TOP CITRUS, MOORPARK, REMAIN UNDEFEATED

By Ramon Scott
Updated: September 1, 2018

2018 GROSSMONT COLLEGE WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

By Dave Dickens

EastCountySports.com

EL CAJON (8-31-2018) The Grossmont College women’s volleyball squad is living up to the standard set by previous teams that have defined a commitment to excellence.

Hope the Oakland Raiders don’t own that phrase.

Grossmont had a double header versus Moorpark and Citrus Colleges. In the later match against Moorpark, G-House took the first game 25-14, lost the second 17-25 and third 21–25, however made an impressive comeback, 25-21 and 15-8, earning the win over Moorpark, (3-2).

“In my humble opinion this was the best volleyball we have played this season,” said Griffins Head Coach Jamie Ivers. The energy from the entire team was infectious and they were resilient and positive the entire match.

“Moorpark is very good and we had amazing short-term memory and energy from top to bottom. Every single person on our roster contributed.”

Grossmont also defeated Citrus 3-0 earlier, 25-19, 25-11, 25-19.

SHANEY LIPSCOMB and ALEXIS VANLANDINGHAM had 18 kills against Moorpark.

Both KYLEE SNYDER and HALEY MORTON played a fantastic match, as Kylee had 24 assists and Haley had 25. The Griffins as a team hit .304.

JEN ORBITA also had an impressive match.

“I think I performed my job well and played with a lot of passion,” said Orbita. “My focus for the past couple of weeks has been passing well and connecting with my setters, it showed in the game and paid off.

“We definitely played with grit and intensity.We played with resilience and collectively our mentalities would reset as if it was 0-0, even when our opponents were up.

“Coach Ivers has really emphasized during practice how important it is to side out on the first pass on serve receive, I really drilled that into my head, again it paid off.

“Shaney has been such an influential player to me,” said Morton, who also was in on almost every play, and played with poise and focus. “She is a great leader with a huge passion and intensity for the game, similar to mine but much more vocal. She leads by example which inspires me to play harder. “

“It was great to get two wins in our home gym. We had a lot of positive energy coming into the first match against Citrus. I felt like we were in a great rhythm which enabled us to execute our game plan.

“Against Moorpark, we knew it was going to be a challenge because of how scrappy they are. Right off the bat we came out strong with Shaney and Lexi (Vanlandingham) swinging hard and putting balls away.

“As the match went on, we lost two sets and one of our middles, so we really had some girls step up and help get the win against Moorpark.”

Vanlandingham has been a stand out in the East County since her early days at Granite Hills High.

She has brought the same talent and knowledge to Grossmont, standing out especially this season as a sophomore.

“We were successful against both of our opponents,” Vanlandingham said. “Our match against Citrus was clean. We went out there and did our job to beat them in three matches.

“The game against Moorpark was fun yet intense. We went out the first game and completely dominated against Citrus. We lost our momentum a bit in the second and third game but maintained focus and stayed together as a team, which allowed us to come back stronger in the fourth and fifth game. Definitely a great win.”

San Diego City had the best record of the Pacific Coast South in terms on non-conference marks at 6-0, while Grossmont stands at 3-0.

Grossmont will resume play on Wednesday and travel to face Saddleback (0-2).