Sacramento, CA – After a pair of 3-0 victories on Tuesday against Lassen College and Yuba College, the Hawks (8-4) return home for a few days of practice and preparation for conference opponent Santa Rosa Junior College (5-4). Last season the Hawks split the season series against the Bear Cubs, with the home team coming out victorious each match.
Conference – Cosumnes River College is part of the Big 8 conference in Northern California. Despite the name 9 teams make up the conference: American River College, Cosumnes River College, Diablo Valley College, Folsom Lake College, Modesto Junior College, Sacramento City College, San Joaquin Delta College, Santa Rosa Junior College, and Sierra College. The Big 8 is known as one of the toughest conferences in California, and one of the toughest if not the toughest conference in Northern California. Last year the Big 8 had 4 teams make the playoffs, with 2 more on the cusp of being selected. Of the 4, all the Big 8 teams were top 10 ranked.
Pre-Season: This year the Hawks had a solid preseason going 8-4 against non-conference opponents from across Northern California. Of the Hawks victories, only 2 matches lasted longer than a 3-0 sweep. The Hawks had a rough patch resulting in 4 losses, all of which required more than 3 sets, which is an encouraging sign. Heading into conference play, the Hawks sit at 3rd in conference currently with a 8-4 record and a.667 win percentage thus far.
Roster – Kari Nahlen is in her 4th year as Head Coach for Cosumnes River College. Every year, her team record has improved and the team has gotten more and more competitive. This year the Hawks are made up of 14 players, 4 sophomores and 10 freshmen.
Sophomores:
Ashanti Cason #9 – Opposite Hitter. Ashanti is in her second year at CRC after coming in as a freshman from Liberty Ranch High School
Abigail Hicks #13 – Defensive Specialist/Libero. Abby is in her second year playing for the Hawks. Last season she was the team's libero and went on to set the single season aces record as well as the number of aces and digs in a single set. Hicks came to CRC from Capital Christian High School.
Deziree McKee #6 – Middle Blocker. Dez is in her first year at CRC. She originally went to Southern Oregon University where she played her freshman year, and then transferred to CRC after redshirting last season. McKee attended Franklin High School in Elk Grove, CA.
Taryn Oberle #17 – Outside Hitter. Taryn is in her second year at CRC. Last year Taryn played as a middle for the Hawks before making the transition this season to the outside. Taryn came to CRC from Liberty Ranch High School in Galt, CA like teammate Ashanti Cason.
Freshman:
Gillian Ayala # 15 – Outside Hitter. Gillian is in her first year at Cosumnes River College. She played at Colusa High School.
Ainsley Beckman #1 – Defensive Specialist. Ainsley is in her first season for the Hawks. Last year she was playing for the Inderkum High School Tigers where she played against some of her current teammates.
Isabella Bugarin #5 – Defensive Specialist. Belle came to CRC from River Valley High School in Yuba, CA. This is her first season for the Hawks, but was able to attend spring practices, getting a head start on her technique.
Kaley Dosier # 2 – Outside Hitter. Kaley attended Linden High School where she was a middle hitter. After summer practices, Kaley is a versatile weapon that can be used all across the front line as needed. This is her first season playing for Cosumnes River College.
Avery Jimenez #8 – Opposite Hitter. Avery is a local player from Elk Grove High School. While this is her first season, Avery was able to attend spring practices.
Giovanna Parino #3 – Setter. Gio is one of the many players from Liberty Ranch for the Hawks. This is her first season playing for CRC.
Charissa Pham # 7 – Setter. Charissa another local player for CRC. She is in her first season with the Hawks after graduating from Sheldon High School in Elk Grove, CA.
Kaiulani Smith #4 – Middle Blocker. Kai is in her first season with the Hawks this year. She has been attending classes at CRC for a few semesters and decided to come out this season and play for the Hawks. Kai attended Franklin High School where she played with Deziree.
Anna Thomas – Defensive Specialist. Anna comes to CRC after attending Franklin High School, tying the total players from a school with Liberty Ranch. This is Anna's first year with the Hawks.
Miah Willamson #10 – Middle Blocker. Miah is coming to Cosumnes River College from West Campus High School. This is Miah's first season being a part of the Hawk Family.
Quotes:
"We're so excited to be going into conference 8-4 and taking on one challenge at a time! I'm so proud of my team for persevering through every game and pushing every point and that's what we're going to do the rest of season"
-Abby Hicks
"I'm very excited to go into conference coming out of preseason 8-4. I feel like we have the momentum and the desire to go hard for every point to pull out the first conference win."
-Ashanti Cason
"I'm excited for the team to fight for every single point, & to play at our full potential"
-Taryn Oberle
"We worked really hard in preseason, and it taught us a lot about what we need to do to kill it in conference. We are so excited to start conference matches and show everyone what we can do!"
-Ainsley Beckman
"I'm excited for our team to go all out in every game, play together, and to see how far we can go!"
-Giovanna Parino
Rankings: After preseason, a few Hawks are already top in conference in statistics.
Total Kills – Miah Williamson (118) 3rd in conference
Kaley Dosier (103) 5th in conference
Deziree McKee (100) 7th in conference
Kill Percentage – Miah Williamson (.354) 1st in conference
Deziree McKee (.285) 2nd in conference
Total Assists – Giovanna Parino (391) 1st in conference
Service Aces – Isabella Bugarin (24) 3rd in conference
Abigail Hicks (22) 4th in conference
Total Digs – Abigail Hicks (226) 1st in conference
Isabella Bugarin (115) 10th in conference
Total Blocks – Miah Williamson (40) 2nd in conference
Deziree McKee (32) 6th in conference
Kaley Dosier (23) 9th in conference