What a year from our women’s volleyball team here at Grossmont. This impressive group of women put on a show this season, finishing with a 23-4 overall record. The Griffins dominated their competition and went on an impressive streak of 21 straight wins. There is no question this squad put everything they had into this season, and it showed every time they hit the court.
With so many impressive performances this year, it is hard to cover them all. The Griffins continually dominated their competition and began their win streak in September when they beat Palomar. This set them on a course to do the unthinkable.
“I was so proud of this team and what they were able to accomplish,” said Grossmont Griffin Tomia Taylor. “I knew our volleyball team was good but had no idea that they would put Grossmont on the map in the way that they did.”
Taylor continued: “Twenty-one straight wins is crazy, especially for just a local community college just sitting here in La Mesa. Someone told me that they were top five in the state, and I was just so proud to be a Griffin.”
This squad put an undefeated conference run going 16-0 and, along the way, decided to rack up some impressive stats as a team and as individuals. Out of 86 teams, Grossmont boasted seventh in hitting percentage at .269 and eighth in overall assists, racking up a total of 1102 this season. Individually this squad had some incredible performances this season. Chelsee Trendler finished first out of 100 total people in assists per set with an average of 10.82, and Grossmont as a team averaging 11.85 in assists per set shows just how important she was for this squad.
Grossmont dominated its conference, and one person in particular set the tone this season in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference: Madi Bogle who took home “Player of the Year” honors this season. Bogle finished this season 17th in the state in hitting percentage, so it is safe to say she does not miss too many opportunities to score for her team. None of these performances would have been possible without the impressive scheming from Head Coach Brooke Callahan, who took home the 2022 PCAC “Coach of The Year” honor, which was well-deserved after putting together such a glorious season and bringing another conference title to Grossmont.
“I’ve been here at Grossmont for almost two years, and it seems that no matter what the volleyball team always brings such big energy here. They are the only sports team I have actually taken the time to go and watch on multiple occasions,” said Andrew Johnson, an economics student at Grossmont.
“I’ve never watched a volleyball game in my life until I came here to Grossmont, but this year I couldn’t get enough of it because this team was just so much fun to watch all season,” Johnson said.
The impressive run from this team came to an end on Dec. 2 when it lost to Feather River College in the Elite Eight at Fresno College by a score of 20-25, 15-25 and 20-25. Feather River went on to win the state title this year, so Grossmont can have some semblance of relief knowing they lost to the state champions and put up a fight to the end.
This squad may have come up short of what they know they are capable of, but that does not take away from their many accomplishments this season. Griffins owe the seven sophomores that were a part of this team a big thank you and can expect to see them go on to bigger and better competition at the next level. For the 11 freshmen and four red shirts coming back next year, Grossmont looks forward to another title run and an exciting season ahead.