MADELAIN TIGANO
The Lady Pirates, PJC’s volleyball team, are now conference champions after winning Oct. 14 against Gulf Coast Community College in a battle for an entry to the state tournament.
“I’m excited to go to state,” said Cassidy Nance, freshman player. “It is what we worked really hard for, and we finally did it.”
Sophomore Jessica Guidry started the first set with a six-point serving run, leaving PJC in the lead six to one. Later, Jasmine Scott hit a kill for the eighth point, followed by Hannah Nichols’ kill for the ninth and Kali Pringle’s kill for the tenth. Cassidy Nance continued PJC’s domination with a kill for the game point, winning the set 25-13 which brought the crowd to a roar.
The second set took a similar route to the first with PJC winning 25-14.
“We came out aggressive in the first two games,” said Pete Pena, volleyball head coach.
In the third set, the Lady Pirates left the crowd cheering for a comeback as they fell behind by five points with the score becoming 10 to 5, Gulf Coast, and then rising 15-10. Gulf Coast took control in defense at the end of the set winning 25-16.
IN the fourth set, Gulf Coast’s Jameiha Maxwell gave away the match point to PJC by hitting the ball out of bounds, leaving the final score 25-18 and giving PJC its ticket to state.
“It’s nice to win and get to go to the state tournament again,” Pena said. “I am very proud of them.”