The Bailey Blog: Hitting the Home Stretch

It has been a long week for the team. After a nice break the week before last, we are heading down the home stretch and are gearing up for playoffs.

On Tuesday we played a non-conference game against a formidable opponent in Fresno Pacific. The plan was to give most of the team a good rest, while getting some of the young guys some minutes and a chance to prove themselves. They put together an inspired performance, but could not find the back of the net in the first half. Then trouble struck and Fresno Pacific showed why they are ranked in the top twenty five for NAIA, by putting us behind with a well finished opportunity. We hit the post several times, in the second half, but it was Scott to the rescue with about 4 minutes left in the game. Scott headed home a corner kick to put us into overtime. The game looked as though it was going to go the distance, but we pressured and got the ball back. Nate found me streaking down the middle, and as I penetrated through their defense I laid the ball off to my right, where Cam flew in and scored his first goal of his career. Nice way to start your scoring career, and a nice win for us, even if it was harder than we wanted it to be.

While Tuesday was supposed to be a day off, Friday sure felt like it. We traveled down to Monterey Bay for a very crucial game. After a draw in the first leg of the season, we could not afford to give away any more points at this point in the season. We showed up sharp, and turned what could have been a hard game into one that they will soon try to forget. About five minutes into the game, Lafon found the back of the net on a cross from Cam. It would take about twenty more minutes and many chances to find the next, Nate found Ross who sliced his way through the defense and slotted the ball to the back post. The half concluded with Davide blasting the ball into the back of the net from Ross, right before the whistle. Monterey pressed hard in the second half, but when Nate found Davide, who blasted another shot home, the game was all but over. The starters slowly found their way off the field, and we started to warm up the bus. Cam would get in on the scoring, along with Taylor Jones, who has to be SSU’s all time leading goal scorer as a goalie, now having score two on the year.

Sunday was a different game all together, as San Francisco always plays us tough. Joe Hunter, their coach, and Marcus are best friends, and thus love nothing more than to win against each other. That added to the fact that it was their senior day, we knew it was going to be a battle. I have to give props to SF State, as they honored our seniors too, which was really classy, but about the last classiest thing that they did. The game was really physical, as there were forty fouls, five yellow cards and a red card on the day. Nate started us off, and man does he love scoring at this place. Lafon slipped a ball into Nate as he streaked through, and Nate, with little angle on goal ripped a shot that had the post shaking for a couple minutes. About ten minutes later, Cam crossed the ball on a corner kick, and I headed the ball home from the near post to put us up by two. Alas the lead would not last too long, as about two minutes later, off a free kick from midfield, Brook came out to get the ball and was fouled, causing him to drop the ball. The ball bounced around for a couple of moments and was deflected up in the air to the other side of the net, where a SF State player was standing. I think Brook lost his temper, as he came out of nowhere and clobbered the guy, giving up a PK. The second half was pretty ridiculous; SF battled hard, but came up short. The game was turned into a slug fest, and we were just happy to get out of there with the three points, and our bodies not too banged up.

'Till next time this is Bailey signing off.

On The Record With Megan Wong, Part V

Why us? Why on road trips? Does it really make a difference whether we’re home or away? Well it looks like it does to me. The last 3 away matches we've been unable to come up with a “W.” We were still 'low percentage' like Coach Bear wants us to be (well not quite vs. UCSD). That game we couldn’t seem to find the court. We were hitting and serving balls out of bounds and into the net; not our normal style of volleyball. With Freshman Libero Taylor Krenwinkel out early in the first game with a sprained ankel, we knew it was going to be a tough night for us.

We traveled down south knowing that UCSD was a very strong serving team. That’s how they beat CSUSB. They weren’t afraid of missing, but it didn’t matter. They were not going to let us take away the match from them on their home court. Their crowd was big, loud, and crazy, bigger than Cal Poly Pomona. We’re so used to a low key crowd, not big, loud, and crazy, so of course if affected our game. Coach Bear kept saying that we were scared because of the atmosphere and that we needed to find a way to play like we usually do. We lost games 1 and 2 with no questions asked, however, we put up a fight in game 3, but sadly lost 24-26 and we were back on the plane early the next morning. Like Coach Bear said, “When we’re on fire and playing our game, nothing can go right for our opponent. (like we did to Humboldt Wednesday nigh), but now it’s UCSD beating up on us and nothing is going our way.”

I know our team is stressing about the losses on the road, but we’re not letting down because everyone in our conference is beating each other up, opening doors for us in conference and regionals. We are not finished when we lose, we are finished when we quit and our team is not quitting. We are half way done with conference and still wanting to fight. We start the 2nd round of league this weekend facing big rivals CHICO and Stanislaus. We need a BIG crowd!!!

Sablle's Cross Country Report, Part IV

Hey guys!

Its Sablle here! As you know, we ran in beautiful Golden Gate Park this weekend at the SFSU Invitational. This meet went really well for our team as a whole! Everybody on our team finished with a great kick at the end, and for the most part, we were pleased with our performance.

A lot of us are recovering from injuries and I think we all handled it very well. The course was a nice 6k with a couple hills, terrain and grass. As far as running in the late afternoon goes, it was actually very, very cold rather than what we were preparing for, heat. The end of our race was very rewarding too because Yvonne brought us a delicious spaghetti dinner. I know i can speak for the entire team and give special thanks to Yvonne for supporting us throughout our season and constantly cheering and helping out!!! THANKS YVONNE!

Now, our next two races are definitely the most important ones! On Oct. 25 we have our CCAA Championships in San Bernardino, Calif. and our coach really wants us to all to get PR's (personal record), so we will definitely be fighting for them. Our very last race is in San Diego for Regionals and it is also very important. We will be fighting for a good place there as well.

Also I would like to do a short Q and A on here because us cross country runners get
these questions ALL THE TIME...

1.)Do you like to run?
YES, we all love to run, despite it being extremely hard at times we love what we do.
"Our sport is your sport's punishment"

2.) How many miles do you run?
Our longest run this year has been twelve miles.

3.) Is that all you do for practice...run the same routes?
NO! we do a variety of workouts, here is a rundown of our week...
Mondays: 6:00 a.m. practice, drive to Annadel, Run 12 miles.
Tuesdays: 7:00 practice, drive to Crane Creek Park and do a variety of hills (it changes every week)
Wednesdays: 7:00 practice, 5-6 mile runs (of coaches choosing around Rohnert Park...usually Copeland creek trail)
Thursdays: 7:00 practice on the track, varies from mile break ups to pyramids
Fridays: 7:00 practice, usually 5 miles and then go into the Sonoma State pool and aqua jog for about 15-30 minutes.

So there you go, if you have any more just ask!
-Young Sablle

The Bailey Blog: Two W's Sure Feel Nice

Hi there again. You know, it has been too long since the last time Sonoma ended a weekend with two W’s. In fact, I couldn’t even remember the last time that it happened. This was a big weekend for us, because this is the time of the season you want to start gearing up for the post season and we needed to start taking care of business if we are going to get there. We have essentially used up our “oops” card, and need to go on a little run if we are going to do anything this season. This weekend was a great start to doing just that.

First off, this weekend was the type of 'D' we are going to need to play if we are going anywhere. Shutouts are like pouring gas on a fire...they just make it way better. So the D needs to get the props they deserve before we talk about anything else.

On Friday we showed up, and I don’t think it mattered who we played because it was going to be unfortunate for anyone who set foot in our house on that day. We wanted to wash the bitter taste out of our mouths from the Dominguez game, and what better way to do that than beating a team five nothing, and scoring two goal in the first ten minutes. Even though we scored five goals, what was refreshing was the defensive work that the team displayed. From moment one we were up to the task, and boy did we look good doing it. We truly were beauty and the beast on this day, making all the great stops on defense, and showing a little flair while we scored.

Ross probably wishes that he could have been in the movie Groundhog Day, living this one over and over again, and rightly so. He was on fire, four goals, on four shots, and worked his butt off and deserved every single on of them. The first goal was created by good pressure, and Cam found Ross isolated near the top of the box, chipping a ball into space, which Ross collected and then neatly placed in the top corner of the goal, a rather nice way to start the day. Ross would again find the back of the net, when Jack sent a long ball over the top to Ross, who spun his defender near the top of the box, collected the ball past the keeper, and put it home. When are people going to realize that you can’t just have one guy defend him? He is just on fire.

The second half the game was definitely more open, and Ross would tack on number three about twenty minutes into the second half. I received the ball at midfield and couldn’t feel any pressure on me. When I looked up it was like SFO, they were flagging me down the middle of their D and so I obliged them and went there. When a defender finally committed to me I only had to slot the ball off to Ross who one timed it home. About ten minutes later Ross would find number four when Cam brought the ball up the right side, I made a run through, and Cam found me with a beautiful ball. I chest trapped the ball off to Ross who would finish again, and I am pretty sure if I had left my dinner out Ross would have finished it too. Davide finished the day off for us off a ball from Wiedeman, and nothing tasted better.

Sunday was a game that we knew was going to be a tough one. Pomona always plays us tough. Last year we squeaked out of their place with a two to one win. Two years ago we won in overtime, the year before we tied, and the year before that we won in overtime. So we knew we were going to have ourselves an old fashion slobber knocker, and it was time to get stuck in. We controlled most of the play, we hit the post several times, and it looked like it might be one of those days where we might not hit water if we fell out of a boat, but not so. Late in the second half, I received a ball and faked a pass to the middle, looking up I found a seam in their D and slotted it to Cam, who was off to the races, playing the ball across the box. Ross was unable to get on the end of it, and just like Nate always does, hefound himself in the perfect place, and punched it home for us. I thought that the flood gates might open for us, but one was all we would get or need.

Two wins, ahhh it is nice to feel that for the first time in a long time. Well until next time, this is Bailey, love you Mom and Dad. I am out!

The Bailey Blog: Mixed Results In So Cal

Hey long time no talk. It has been a crazy couple of weeks for the team. We have had some big ups and big downs, and are looking just past the mid point of the season. We just got back from southern California, and we didn’t get the job done.

We took a bus down south with the girls team, and despite the fact that it was long hours we managed to have a good time watching movies and sleeping. On the day of the UCSD game, we just hung out because the game was at 7pm and we really didn’t want to do anything before the game.

I love night games and their field is beautiful. The atmosphere was awesome. We have a lot of guys on our team from San Diego, so it had the feeling of a home game. The game was a big one for us, we had just come off the biggest win of the season over Cal State Los Angeles, and were looking to put a streak together. San Diego was a good team, and the score didn’t tell how hard the game was. We came out a little shaky, but once we settled down we started to see most of the action start go our way. We didn’t find the net in the first half, but we were playing well and getting a lot of good play from our wingers.

Lafon went down early in the second half, and subsequently would miss the next game, but more on that later. Mark Wiedeman stepped up big for us in his place, and torched their defense to set up the first goal, which Ben slid in to get us on the board. It was Wiedeman again creating the second goal and hooking up with Ben on a great cross and header finish at the back post. Cam Vickers, who also played very well on the wing, set up the second goal, beating his man and crossed the ball to the back post. Wiedeman would head the ball back into the middle where Nate came flying in to put the nail in the coffin. At the very end Davide would slip in and drop the ball back to Alan who would cap the scoring for the day, but not before we celebrated with a dance party hosted by Alan. Their field is so beautiful, and will be the spot for the CCAA tournament later in the year.

Saturday we traveled up to Carson and trained on the David Beckham soccer academy field. Our training wasn’t super sharp, but we got a little 'loosen up' session in, and even got to see Sarah Palin drive by after her speech at the Home Depot Center.

Sunday was the day that I had circled on my calandar for a long time. We have built quite a rivalry with Dominguez Hills over the past few years, and it is always a slobber knocker of a game. As I mentioned before Lafon didn’t play, and I was limited in minutes because of an ankle injury from the previous game. We fought hard, but didn’t have a great game. Our intensity was on and then off for most of the game, and we turned the ball over an awful lot. Give them credit because they are a very good team, whose defense is probably one of the best in the nation. We never really got anything going on offense, but our defense played well and held us in the game. We ended giving up a soft goal, but the story of the day was the fact that we didn’t put any numbers on the board, and we are not going to win anything if we don’t score. We played well enough to tie, and they played well enough to win.

The drive back was long, but spirits were ok. Losing to Dominguez Hills is not a bad loss, but we could have put forth a better effort. This weekend is a big one for us, but then again when is a game not big for us? We play San Bernardino, and Cal Poly Pomona, who are both going to test us, but we are back at home ready to play some Noma Soccer.

I'll try to keep the blog going a little stronger, but until then this is Bailey signing out.

Sablle's Cross Country Report, Part III

Hey its sablle again!

I know it has been long... I apologize. I personally have not been running for two weeks due to injuries. Our team actually has two girls out for the entire season, Kiyara and Elizabeth, which are great losses to our team. We really miss having them at practice as well as in the scores for
races but we will be just fine :). Our team is actually seeing a new specialist. He specializes in ART (Active Release Technique for all of you athletes out there). It really has seemed to help those with injuries on our team and I really recommend him. Anyways, our race this weekend is held by USF in San Francisco and we are all very excited. It is another tough 6k race but coach Mark James has really been preparing the team for this race. It should be very interesting because it is our only Friday race and it is at 4:30. Our team is used to running at
7:00 in the morning with cold foggy weather and since this is later it will be hotter, obviously. We have been practicing during the day a lot, though, to prepare us. The entire team is also very, very, very, very excited for our two last races in San Bernardino and San Diego (@ UCSD). I will be writing again soon, until then good luck to all you athletes!!!
-Young Sablle

On The Record With Megan Wong, Part IV

The past 2 weeks have been black and white for our team. Last week when we played at home versus Academy of Art (Wed. Sept. 24), SF State (Fri. Sept. 26), and Monterey Bay (Sat. Sept. 27), it was a breeze for us. We took each team in 3 games (except SF State in 4) giving us a record of 14-1.

This past weekend we were on the road and it was a different story. We traveled down south to play Cal Poly Pomona, ranked 16th in division II on Friday, October 3 and lost in 4 games. It was a full crowd that night. The stands were full, the band was loud, and the fans were crazy. We knew we could win and wanted to win, but it didn’t seem like it when we got out on the court. Saturday, October 4, we drove to Cal State San Bernardino to play the 2nd ranked team in the nation. We came out slow in game 1, but gave them somewhat of a fight in games 2 and 3. It wasn’t our best performance; however, we did what we could do with what we had on the court. There’s only so much an athlete can do for the team, but it didn’t seem we could come together as a whole.

Despite the 2 straight loses over the weekend, we have Humboldt and UCSD to focus on for this coming weekend. Our current record is 14-3 overall and 6-2 in conference, putting us tied for 2nd place with Cal Poly Pomona and UCSD. CSUSB leads at 7-1 in 1st place. We’re not giving up on our goals of winning conference and going to Regionals.