The first week of College sports officially rang the bell with energy and excitement as athletes were starting to prepare for competition this weekend.

Teams such as Men’s soccer, men’s and women’s basketball, and volleyball were all underway this past week in what was the first competitive sport at a college level after a year since the pandemic has started.

Women’s basketball started the weekend off with a home game against Bakersfield College. After coming up short in the first quarter, the ladies got back in their groove and beat Bakersfield by a final of 78-57. Leading the way to victory with 20 points, 4 assists, and 8 rebounds in a little over 28 minutes of play were freshmen out of Sierra Pacific in Hanford, Celeste Lewis.

These two teams faced off once again on Saturday, with the Sequoia Giants getting ready to continue their momentum going. After a tough first quarter for the Giants, they picked up where they left off on Friday night and swept Bakersfield College with a final score of 81-64, outscoring Bakersfield 47-30 in the second half.

Lewis continued her dominant performance from Friday and carried it over to Saturday, again leading the team in points and assists. The Lady Giants finished the weekend 2-0 and are looking to continue their dominance against Antelope Valley College this upcoming Friday and Saturday.

Men’s Soccer continued the weekend also playing Bakersfield College. The team hit the road Friday and traveled to Bakersfield for their 3 pm matchup. Unfortunately, the ride back home was a bit silent as the Sequoias couldn’t keep up, losing the first match with a final score of 4-2. Saturday, men’s soccer hosted an afternoon home game against Bakersfield where we saw a bit more competition come out from the team.

With goals from sophomore midfielder Christian Verlarde and freshmen forward Marques Carillo, it just wasn’t enough. The final match ended in a 2-2 tie. It was a tough weekend for Men’s soccer, however, they are going to continue to prepare for their Friday and Saturday matchups against Antelope Valley College.

Women’s volleyball kicked off their season this past Friday with an away matchup against Bakersfield College. The ladies had a lot of energy in themselves traveling down South and brought that energy into the matchup. Though, things didn’t go as planned as they lost 3 out of
the 4 sets in which they played.

The team continued their competition Saturday, forgetting about the loss, and went out and played harder than the previous day. The ladies did come up short again, losing all three of the sets that were played. After a quick 0-2 start to the season, these athletes are getting ready to attack the net against Antelope Valley this upcoming Friday and Saturday.

We are concluding our eventful weekend of sports with Men’s basketball taking on Palo Verde in a two-day competition game. After a first-half blow-out, leading 70-33, COS continued their first-half performance in the second half against Palo Verde with a dominating win 132-82. The sophomore guard out of Hanford, Ryan Johnson only played 24 minutes and led the team with 37 points during the first game of the 2021 season. Sunday’s matchup was a closer one than Saturday night, but both teams hung in there until the end. COS defeated Palo Verde again with a final score of 95-81.

However, this time we have a Sophomore guard out of Arizona Compass prep, Seth Dawson leading the way to victory with 23 points in a little over 22 minutes played. The Giants ended the weekend with a sweep over Palo Verde and are preparing to continue their hot streak this Friday and Saturday against Antelope Valley College.

The eventful week of the competition came to a close Sunday night. It was a tough weekend for some sports and an even better weekend for the other sports. However, we are athletes and athletes never give up regardless of the circumstances. As our athletes prepare for next weekend’s matchup against Antelope Valley, the dominance and willingness to fight will continue.