Published 2008-02-12T00:00:00Z”/>

Del Razo, Christian

Since its inaugural season in 2002, the women’s club volleyball team has made it to the National Intramural Recreational Sports Association Championships every year, finishing third in the nation in 2003.

The spring season began Feb. 2 when the Wildcats split the series 1-1 against the University of Nevada, Reno. They added a 3-0 win on the road Feb. 9 against Sonoma State, then returned to split a two-game series against rival UC Davis at home.

Davis’ Team A beat the ‘Cats 2-1, but the Wildcats took back the court 3-0 against Team B.

Despite including five schools on the league spring schedule, this is no recreational sport – this is club volleyball.

“We get tired, and yeah, it hurts,” said Jacquelyn Pearson as she gulped down a Red Bull. “But I kind of like the challenge.”

Pearson is in her third year with the team as an outside hitter and stood out with her 10 kill shots and 10 dig saves against Sonoma State.

Fellow outside hitter Elise Englar is also admired for her heavy shots and strong arm. Her unrelenting pressure on the net helped the ‘Cats split the series with Reno.

“We play our hearts out, and yeah, we always play our hardest,” Englar said. “But we have to give a lot of credit to our setters, they work hard to make us look good.”

For the first two weeks Amanda Moberg was the team’s libero player. Meaning “free” in Italian, the libero is a player who is free to replace any back row player without using a team substitute, but is restricted in offensive play.

“She’s great as a libero,” first-year coach Angie Ayers said. “To play that position you have to be a great passer and one of the team’s best defenses.”

The triple threat of Moberg, Englar and Pearson is only the surface of the Wildcats’ assets.

“We have a high competitive edge. There are three other girls who also play our libero position,” Ayers said. “Moberg has been the libero the last two weeks but the competition is what makes all the players better.”

A former player herself, Ayers has also coached at Chico High School for two years, she said.

“I have been coaching for seven years,” Ayers said. “I actually started to coach while I was still playing down at the University of Arizona.”

Originally from Burney, the new ‘Cats coach adds a depth of experience and success to an already-polished squad.

“I got a scholarship to play at ASU and we had a really good team, we made a couple of Final Fours and a few Elite Eight,” Ayers said. “It’s a Pac-10 school so there’s a lot of good competition.”

That type of high-level play experience could propel the team to new heights.

With their current record standing at 3-2, the Wildcats have begun their season in stride and are aiming to overcome close losses against Reno and UC Davis.

Christian Del Razo can be reached at<a href= “mailto:[email protected]”>[email protected]</a>