March 26, 2023
Back-to-Back Champs for Beach
By Francisco Claudio
Westcliff women's beach volleyball team would not be denied the chance to be crowned once again, just as it happened one year ago.
The Warriors knew of their accomplishments as soon as Friday's match finished against Saint Katherine when they swept 5-0.
But that wouldn't be the only sweep of the weekend, as the Warriors had perfect sweeps against both Benedictine Mesa and Park-Gilbert.
Head Coach Tim Maruyama shared his thoughts after the event: "It feels awesome. The girls put in a lot of hard work to get where they are today. We played these schools two weeks ago in Arizona and our goal was to improve and play a little better ball and they did it.
"Won 5-0 against all three schools and top to bottom everybody played better ball than they did two weeks ago."
The Warriors have been just as impressive this season as they were in 2022.
Their overall record this 2023 season is (11-3) and finished a perfect (6-0) in the Cal Pac conference.
But Maruyama and the team have their eyes set on even bigger things as they will get back to work this week as they look forward to their Vanguard match-up.
"Next week we play against No. 2 Vanguard, a match we have been looking forward to all year the most as we started out in poll No.3," said Maruyama. "This will be our first chance in the season to improve our seeding by one spot.
"We get to see a national contender in Vanguard on Wednesday so we're really focused on cleaning up our serve and pass, improving a little bit on our first ball side out, so that we can come and play our best ball."
The sky's the limit for this Warrior team as they are made up of hard-working, talented, and grounded players who cheer the loudest for each other every match.
"I've said it 1000 times this year already but I started four days before our first match and with that came a whirlwind of chaos," said Maruyama. "This team has gone through so much change and adversity but out of it has come a beautiful team filled with transparency, determination, and heart."
The match-up is set against No. 2 Vanguard, at Vanguard on Wednesday, March 29, at 10 AM.
But for now and the next couple of days, Westcliff women's beach volleyball can celebrate another successful season that led to lots of growth and team building.
"We are all growing every day as volleyball players but more importantly as human beings," said Maruyama. "I love being surrounded every day by 19 incredible women and five incredible coaches.
"It's an honor and blessing every day."