City’s Men’s Volleyball team lost a close match to the defending state champion Long Beach City College Vikings, 3-2 (30-28, 25-30, 27-30, 30-26, 11-15).

The match was close through all games with both teams going on scoring runs but, in the end, Long Beach managed to pull out the win.

The match started with the Knights and Vikings splitting the first two games. In the third game the Knights began to pull away early with a barrage of spikes from Freshmen Steve Rindfleisch and Skylar “The Red Baron” del Sol, building a four point lead.
The Vikings staged a rally of their own to tie the score at 25. Long Beach would eventually win the game 30-27.

During the fourth game the Knights built a 13-7 lead and held on to win the game 30-26.

Early in the fifth and final game, the teams were trading the lead; however, Long Beach pulled out the win, 15-11.

“These guys are the state champs,” said Coach Jed Stotsenberg. “We want to play them again (in the playoffs) and beat them for the state championship.”

Rindfleisch recorded 29 kills while del Sol had 24 kills and 12 digs.

The Knights started the season strong with three straight wins; with the loss to Long Beach, their record now stands at 3-3.

Coach Stotsenberg still has high hopes for their season. “Our team has something to build on,” says Stotsenberg. “(The players) are still strengthening under the system. Our play is getting crisper. We all know what we have to work on.”

At this point in the season, the Knights have only played teams outside of their conference. Coach Stotsenberg sees conference play as a good opportunity for his team to build momentum.

“Conference play looks good. (There are) solid teams, but its very do-able,” says Stotsenberg.

The Knights’ next home game will be Wednesday, March 10, against Grossmont College.