The volleyball team got their four match scrimmage day rolling with matches against San Diego City College, Imperial Valley, Riverside and Santa Maria on Friday at the Cerritos College gym.

After the first match, head coach Teresa Velasquez shared her thoughts on what she saw from her team.

“I saw a little nervousness from the girls and thought the serves were going to be better because the serves were kind of the weak part (of their performance). We’ll see if we can fix that for the next game and hopefully they are going to be better.”

Although the matches were time based with no point system, Velasquez liked what she saw from the team and noticed what they needed to work. “I think our offense is good and we need to pass to get through the game. Hopefully the next game we are going to be better and more comfortable. This is why we have scrimmages to fix what we have to work on before the season.”

First year player Amanda Payne got extensive playing time and felt good about what the team did out on the court.

“I was a little nervous but very excited at the same time. It’s more of a scrimmage to see how we mesh together as a team, but overall I think we did a pretty good job for the first match.”

When asked on the team’s improvement, assistant coach Gigi Tisdom said, “I think they did much better in the second game. Their defense was a little tighter which allowed them to have more offense.”

However, the team still needed to work on their game, according to Tisdom.

“They are struggling a little bit with serves, receives and passing. Without that ball up, we are unable to have an offensive play.

Offensively they are a strong team. Defense is an area we are trying to focus on.”

In regard to the main takeaway from the scrimmages, Payne said, “Just to play as a team is the main thing here and for us to come together playing the sport we all love.”

The women’s volleyball season begins with a home match against Santa Ana College on Friday, Sep. 6 at 5 p.m.