College of Marin played their third and fourth matches of a 48 hour period on Friday and showed no worse for wear against a fierce set of opponents. The Mariners faced off against Delta and Feather River Colleges and while they fell in both matches, the team is showing strong signs of improvement from week to week.
The Mariners started their day with a matchup with Delta College. The top two Mariners' teams did very well and nearly grabbed wins. Emma Harris and Salomi Galodamu battled against the top squad from Delta College, they fell in a close first set 21-15, and followed it up with the second set where they lost 21-13.
The second Mariners' paring of Alejandra Leon and Diana Patrick took a set off of Delta. After dropping the first one 21-11 they rebounded for a 21-16 second set victory. They could not pull of the upset as they dropped the third set but they were the only Marin team to win a set in the match.
Sarah Harris and Helen Sigaran struggled in their first set as they lost 21-4, but that performed much better in their second set where they fell to the Delta three's 21-11.
Erika Elde and Ashley Changthongthip produced a valient effort against the Delta fours. They dropped the first set 21-11, but came within points of taking set number two 21-16. Mia Valadez and Francis Marin put forth a great effort but fell 21-2 and 21-10.
The second match against Feather River was extremely competitive up and down the pairings.
Emma Harris and Galodamu were in both of their sets with the top pair from Feather River College. They fell in the first set 21-15 and matched the intensity for the second set with an identical score of 21-15.
Leon and Patrick did their best against Feather River. They were oh so close in the first set, losing 21-16 and dropped off by just a bit in a 21-10 second set loss.
Sarah Harris and Signaran fell in their three's match 21-8 and 21-12. The fourth set was a battle for Eide and Chanthongthip. They fell 21-16 in the first set and were very close again as they fell 21-14 in the second. Marin and Valadez had a tough first set 21-0 but bounced back for a very competitive second set where they lost just 21-15.
It was a busy week for the Mariners, but a successful one. They showed their mettle on Friday against some of Northern California's toughest competition.
Next up for Marin are a pair of matches against College of the Redwoods and Sierra College on Friday, April 6th.