First Test of Adversity for Men's Beach VB

By Francisco Claudio

 

The Westcliff men's beach volleyball team faced their first test of adversity this season on Friday morning.

 

The Warriors had won their first three competitions so far by the same margin of 3-2 as key players were still awaiting to join the team.

 

Head Coach Fernanda Sabla had picked some of the best competitors in Southern California to test the Warriors in order to best prepare them for nationals.

 

"Rarely, does anybody go undefeated in any sport," Sabla said. There's always ups and downs in every season and even though our season is short, there's going to be highs and lows."

 

Westcliff hit the beach courts to play against CEV in what became a drawn-out battle with the last point up for grabs until the final moments.

 

Doubles No.1 (WU) DJ Klasnic & Ilias Lazaar won 21-15, 21-15.
 
Doubles No. 2 (WU) Tom Dempsey and Gabriel Pizza lost 12-21, 18-21.
 
Doubles No. 3 (WU) Kajus Mazuronis and Tyler Brossard lost 18-21, 21-19, 9-15.
 
Doubles No. 4 Pawel Tuz and Lukas Pusvaskis lost 21-5, 17-21, 14-16.
 
Doubles No. 5 Andy Jaszczynski and Michael Howell won 24-22, 21-16.

 

The Warriors seemed like the more tired team and the hot conditions throughout the morning and noon time did not help make it any better.

 

"What I take from this result is taking the pedal off a little bit," Sabla said. "I can see that some guys were a little bit tired. So what I need to do is back off. What the players need to do is back off. 

 

"Any extracurricular that they're doing like playing tournaments outside of Westcliff they need to stop and be conscious of their body and understand that there is a bigger goal here." 

 

The Warriors will continue their preparation for the AVCA Fall Collegiate Beach National Championships which will take place in less than a month.

 

The team has high expectations after last year's results and it's evident that the goal is to repeat again this year.

 

Coach Sabla is confident that today's loss will only make the team better and that adversity right now can help the team focus better.

 

"We will be better for this," Sabla said. "This gave me an opportunity to see who can step up and who can't at a moment's notice."