The Skyline College Women’s Volleyball team had a very close game against the San Jose City College Jaguars on Wednesday, Oct. 1, but in the end it was Skyline’s defense that enabled them to prevail three sets to two.

The San Jose Community College Jaguars started off strong by scoring the first point in the Oct. 1 match, and carried on very well through the first set, ending the set 18 (SC) to 25 (SJCC).

“Everyone was just a little dead in the beginning” Amaya Aguas, number 9, said.

In that moment I thought this was going to be an open and shut case, but even by the middle of the second set the Trojans came back. Rallies back and forth were incredibly vicious in the second set, with both sides slamming the ball around for around a half-minute on some occasions, an eternity in volleyball.

“We were like a roller coaster” Kristine Evangelista, number 8, said.

“They came to play, they wanted to win” said Head Coach Rayannah Salahuddin.

By the end of the second set a simple tip by Janine Padilla, number 18, was equivalent to the half-minute long rallies giving the Trojans the second set, 25 (SC) to 13 (SJCC). By the third set, when the Jaguars seemed their most tired they still put up a huge fight, and a series of two timeouts in very quick succession allowed the jaguars to close the gap in that set, but the Trojans came back in for the last two points to end the set 25 (SC) to 23 (SJCC).

The fourth set thought was when the game seemed to be turning around. It began with a vicious start and ended just the same when a Skyline player was hit with the ball, giving the Jaguars the point 15 (SC) to 25 (SJCC) that won the set.

“They took advantage of when we were down” said Evangelista. “We were just frustrated.”

This was the part of the game when Salahuddin thought her team might lose.

“The thing they’re struggling with is win or lose they have to play their game.”

However, the Trojans rallied for the final set, and gained a healthy lead to win the fifth set and the game 15 (SC) to 9 (SJCC).

In the end it looks like the Trojans wore down the Jaguars. Salahuddin said the team won through its defense.

“We can make a volley go on” she said.

Salahuddin believes this win bodes well for the future of the team.

“The great thing right now is because of Skyline’s history, we’re constantly underestimated” she said. “In five to seven years we’ll be a state contending team.”