The following is an excerpt from an article that appeared in the Santa Cruz Sentinel and was written by Ray Hacke. Click HERE for the full article.
APTOS — Cabrillo College's women's volleyball team is looking to make life a beach in the gym this fall.
If the Seahawks can accomplish that, they're in for a special season.
Practically all of the players from Cabrillo's unbeaten beach volleyball team from last spring are on the school's indoor roster this season. The Seahawks' beach squad didn't drop more than two matches in any of its duals en route to going 12-0.
Beach volleyball and indoor volleyball are radically different, not least because beach volleyball features two players on each side, whereas indoor volleyball features six, and they are played on vastly different surfaces. Still, Cabrillo coach Kelsee Montagna, whose team will open its season Friday at the Delta Classic in Stockton, believes the skills her players honed and the confidence they established during the beach volleyball season should serve them well this fall.
"That mindset about getting the job done should carry over," Montagna said. "It's really important to them to come back indoors and compete."
Montagna's players seem to succeed whether they're on the sand or on the hardwood: In Cabrillo's last indoor season in 2019, she guided the Seahawks to a 23-6 record, the Coast Conference's North Division title and a berth in the California Community College Athletic Association tournament, in which the Seahawks tied for fifth.