CF Volleyball team at first home game

The tires have officially touched down on the blacktop for the CF women's volleyball team, and as of Aug. 26 they are off and running.

 Since the first four matches took place on the road, the inaugural ceremony for the first ever women's volleyball match took place on Aug. 31 in the newly improved gym.

 Almost 40 years since renovations were last made, the CF gym underwent a massive facelift over the off-season. A refurbished floor, a new weights facility, and new team lockers were added among other improvements. 

 A ribbon cutting ceremony took place before the game to welcome the new gym, and each team captain came onto the court to have their picture taken with the first game ball to be used.

 As people found their way to their seats, Cheers of "Let's go blue!" and the inevitable breakout of "We will rock you" created a buzzed atmosphere.

 It was time to play.

 The game was a dogfight for both teams, with the scores often being tied during the sets. The first set was tied at 23 points before Polk came out on top to take the set and gain an early lead over the Patriots.  

 CF struggled to get back on their feet during the second set, as Polk turned up their game and took a 2-0 lead.

 Knowing a third loss would mean the end of the game, CF came back strong to win the third set behind some aggressive offense from their players.

 Trying to carry momentum into the fourth set, the Patriots were clearly starting to tire out, as their aggressive play in the third set started to catch up with them. The Patriots took an early lead, but Polk rallied and walked off with the win.

 "I feel like we could have played a lot better," said starting player Gianesi Tarafa. "Mostly it was just our energy was down, and we could have picked ourselves up a little better and played to our fullest abilities."

 Despite the loss, the Patriots sport an impressive 4-1 record to kick off the season and a good turnout of spectators served as a positive sign that CF is ready to back the new program with its support.

 "We had a really good turnout tonight," said volleyball player Christine Pinder. "For this to be our first game, the crowd was great."

 Although CF didn't come out on top, the volleyball program has showed great promise even this early in the season.

 Continued support from fans is to be expected, and the Patriots are out to prove they have a place in college volleyball. With a record of 4-1 to start the year, it appears they're ready to lock horns with the conference's finest.

 "We're going to come back this weekend and we're going to play our best," Tarafa said. "If we can pull together, I fully expect us to win our games."