Mesa Volleyball competes in Region I Postseason starting Thursday
Wednesday November 6, 2024 - 2:20 p.m. | Dylan DeVlieger
No. 4 Mesa Volleyball competes in the NJCAA Region I Postseason on Thursday against top seed Glendale.
The Lady T-Birds finished up their 2024 campaign with a 16-11 record (11-7 ACCAC) which was good enough for them to break into the postseason for the first time under head coach Jordan Herrington.
Mesa had many ups and downs this season which saw them start their season off with a huge upset victory over defending Region champion Scottsdale who ranked No. 2 in the country at the time as well as defeating DI Eastern Arizona College who were ranked No. 12 at the time.
The T-Birds had their best 10 game start to a season in the Herrington era, winning seven of their first 10 matches. Throughout the rest of the season MCC would not lose extended games consecutively, but their defeats did seem to come at inopportune times.
Herrington and her staff understand that playing as many games in a compact schedule may have been a factor in the defeats seeming larger than the big wins.
"In volleyball there are a lot of highs and lows, with our schedule being so compact that sometimes those highs were really high but those lows were really low because at times we had four matches in a week," said Herrington.
In a 16 day span in mid September Mesa lost four of their seven matches with all four coming in conference contests. Herrington being not only an experienced coach but a former NCAA athlete knows that losing is all a part of the process to winning, you must fail in order to succeed in the future.
"Getting our team to understand that this is part of the growing process and getting them to understand their role as a young player is how we won games," said Herrington.
Looking towards the postseason contest the T-Birds will have their hands full against the Gauchos on Thursday night. Glendale ranks No. 16 in the country and surged to the No. 1 seed after winning their final eight matches of the season.
MCC has seen success against the Gauchos as they took the season opening contest against Glendale at home, 3-1 on Aug. 10. That defeat seemed to light a fire for GCC as they would go on to win 13 of their next 14 matches with their only loss coming to Scottsdale.
With this opening match of the postseason being the fourth time these teams have met, both understand what the other wants to do, their strengths, and weaknesses. Execution of the game plan will be key for both teams in order to come away victorious.
"Winning these games will not be done solely by being more athletic than our opponent, it has to be about strategy and tendency. We're putting a lot of time and effort into understanding ball placement and their tendencies and making sure we're not surprised by anything that they're doing," said Herrington.
This could be one of the most competitive Region I Postseasons in recent memory as all teams have beaten each other at some point in the season. Mesa has seen the least success against each team individually as they are 1-2 against all opponents in the tournament.
Mesa will take on No. 1 Glendale at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday evening. All matches will take place at Glendale Community College, see ticket prices below.
Ticket prices for the NJCAA Region 1 Volleyball Playoffs will be $10 for Adults and $7 for Students, Seniors, Military and Veterans...CASH ONLY...Kids 12 and Under are FREE!
PC: Zac BonDurant
