Lady Vikes Wrap Up Preseason

The Lady Vikes Volleyball Program opened up their 2023 campaign on the road as they traveled to Oregon to take on three non conference opponents. 

The season began with BBCC taking on the Linn-Benton Roadrunners on Tuesday, August 29th. The season got off to a slow start as the Viking offense struggled to get going resulting in the a clean sweep in favor of the Roadrunners with scores of 25-11, 25-14 and 25-11. The Viking offense was led by Casey and Ashley White as they collected 4 kills a piece along with Camryn Birch and Dakota Killian adding 3 kills of their own while Emma Lucas and Kathleen Velazquez served as the main facilitators as they each dished out 7 assists a piece. 

The second game of the day consisted of the Lady Vikes battling it out against the Chemeketa Community College Storm. The first set had a similar result to the game prior as the Viking offense struggled to find their groove. After dropping the first set by a score of 25-15, the Lady Likes offense began to click scoring 19 points in the second set, winning the third set 25-21 but ultimately dropped the fourth set by a score of 25-21 as Chemeketa came out victorious in 4 sets. Casey White led the way with 4 kills while Emma Lucas handed out 8 assists in the loss.

The following day, the Lady Likes traveled to Vancouver, WA to take on the Clark College Penguins in their final game of the week. Although the result may not have been what BBCC was hoping for, the offense continued to improve as they scored 20, 23 and 19 points, but fell in three straight sets. Casey White yet again let the team in kills with 5 with Audrey Wellhausen, Grace Fedie and Dakota Killian each chipped in with 4 kills a piece while Emma Lucas set a season high with 10 assists.

Although the the win loss column did not favor the Lady Likes, Head Coach Alexa Moser is optimistic moving forward stating "Overall, we saw some of the best competition in the NWAC and although we didn't meet the competition from a statistical standpoint, I was really proud of the grit and heart from the girls. Most of our losses were 25-20, 25-23, 25-21…really close and it was because of their fight. A big emphasis was that the good news is we were really just beating ourselves. Mistakes are going to happen in volleyball, but if we can clean up our play and limit those errors, we're going to find a lot more success on the court during those close games!"

After a short pre season, the Lady Vikes had a short window to learn what NWAC Volleyball is all about. Here is what Coach Moser took away regarding pre season play. "I think the biggest takeaway is the growth from each girl individually and collectively as a team. The girls are hungry to get back in the gym now that they know what the level of competition looks like in the NWAC. Unfortunately with a short pre-season it will be a quick turnaround to prepare for our first league game next week."

BBCC prepares for their home opener hosting the Blue Mountain Community College Timberwolves on September 6th at the Devries Activity Center. To prepare for conference play, Moser plans to use "a lot of pressure situations in practice, simulating "game like" scenarios of being ahead 22-19 and finishing the set. Being tied 23-23 and executing the last 2 points, along with limiting errors in the first 5 points of the set and the last 5 points. Those are the most critical points in each set but also being able to string runs together in between. One of the things I kept reminding the girls is we have to start strong, stay strong and finish strong. Volleyball is such a game of momentum and if we can keep it on our side, the success will come."