Mark Acosta
Sports Editor
La Verne women’s volleyball team finished the season with a 18-5 overall record, and 11-5 record in the Sourthern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, which warranted second place when not many outside of the program gave them a chance to compete.
Starting the season, La Verne had lost influential seniors the year before and were not picked to be among the top teams in the conference, which proved many people wrong, head coach Jenna Panatier said.
“I was really proud of what we did,” Panatier said. “A lot of people thought we were going to come in and have a rebuilding year. We showed you can build on everything because we have a solid foundation.”
La Verne started out the 2017 season on fire, winning their first six games and eight of their first nine. The team looked confident and were beating teams handily. In the middle of the season, the Leopards struggled for a few games, losing three straight as the team learned sophomore outside hitter Mireya Rojo was diagnosed with lymphoma.
“I thought this team was by far the closest team La Verne has ever had,” junior setter Natalie Barragan said. “We definitely did not have an easy year and had a lot of outside factors not go our way, no matter what came our way, this team fought back and kept striving to be the best.”
The team bounced back and played for their teammate, who could not be with them on the court and getting ready to start her treatment. As Mireya Rojo could not play, freshmen were thrust into prominent roles and replaced her well. Freshman outside hitter Kiana Valdiviseo became a regular in the rotation along with opposite hitter Emma Estigoy. They earned playing time and by the end of the season looked like veteran players.
“This year we were able to get everyone on the court and have them contribute. Our freshmen especially were able to step in and hold a strong role for the team,” junior defensive specialist Kristen Sanchez said. “I am really looking forward to seeing our team come back together, stronger, faster and ready to do even better than we did this season.”
La Verne made it to the SCIAC semi finals of the tournament and eventually lost to Cal Lutheran, 3-1, but the experiences learned from this season will help this team moving forward, Panatier said.
Next year the team will feature eight seniors and four juniors to make up the majority of the team.
Throughout the season, the Leopards displayed resilience, and although they could have hung their heads when things were not going their way, they chose to get back up and fight.
“We were there for each other and not letting our problems off the court affect us,” Valdivieso said. “We had a lot going on towards the end of the season and we constantly fought together. As a freshman it was amazing to see all the love and strength on this team.”
This year’s team only had two seniors, but were critical to the success of the team, Panatier said.
Marisa Rojo was named to the Division III All-West Region team as well as a Division III All-American honorable mention by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
Senior middle blocker Alexia Balistreri was solid all year long for the Leopards and provided a steady defensive presence having totaled 87 blocks for the season.
Mark Acosta can be reached at mark.acosta@laverne.edu.
