The Cerritos College volleyball team scrimmaged against former players at its alumni game on Saturday, August 24 at the gym in order to get ready for the fall season.

Head coach Teresa Velasquez used this game to gauge how the team is coming along and said, “Well, this is our first scrimmage to prepare for the season. We’re using this to see how we will do.”

When asked how how this past offseason has helped them, team captain Ashley Castro said, “We have been practicing all summer for 3 hours a day, so we have been working really hard and hope it all comes together.”

Coach Velasquez also liked what she has seen from her team this offseason and said, “I think the team looks pretty good. I’m just hoping we can remain healthy and see how we’re going to improve. We’re using this alumni game to see who is going to be our starters. We’re just analyzing our players right now.”

After coming off a disappointing season last year, Velasquez said, “Our goal is to start strong and win. Our defense and offense are well so now we just have to compete and win.”

Second year player Chelsea James reiterated the coaches thoughts and said, “The mindset is completely different from last year. We have more chemistry , everyone is united, and our mindset is to win.”

The match was a friendly scrimmage against former players, but you could see that the teams were playing with the intensity as if it were a regular season match.

After the first couple sets were over, Castro said, “The first game I think we were kinda nervous, but we got into it and I think we are ready.”

The team feels ready and James viewed the scrimmage as a positive test of how good they really are.

“It feels really good cause I have never had this experience and it’s always good to play against people that have experience.”

The volleyball team starts off the season at home with a match against Imperial Valley College on Friday at 8 a.m.