De Anza College’s beach volleyball team lost to the Fresno College Rams 5-0 and won against the Gavilan College Rams 5-0 on April 10.

Sophomore players experienced difficulties with playing conditions.

“We haven’t experienced much rain or wind this season. I was a little nervous because it (the rain) makes it so much harder because the ball gets heavier,” Alya Cakisic, 20, biology major, said. “Everyone was cheering. It was intense.”

As the season comes to a close, Cakisic said her team’s mindset is to “play like they have nothing to lose.”

“Fresno is a great team and they have strong players,” Cakisic said. “We’re out here to have fun and to play our best.”

McKenzie Bell, 21, nursing major, said the team improved its mindset over the season.

“We used to play up and down. If we’re losing, we’d just shut down,” Bell said. “But (recently) we’ve been doing really good at being stable and level-headed.”

Ernesto Guevara, De Anza’s assistant beach volleyball coach, said he is most proud of the team’s intensity throughout the game.

“That (Fresno) is the best team in state we just played,” Guevara said. “They put up a good fight.”

Guevara also said the team’s overall athletic ability has improved tremendously and that they have exceeded his expectations this season.

As the Mountain Lions wrap up its last conference games, they will continue to compete in multiple championships. The first starting on April 22 at the Coast Conference Pairs Championship, location not yet determined at time of publishing.

Hector Hernandez, De Anza beach volleyball coach, said a lot of the team had not played volleyball on sand, but its chemistry improved since the season began.

“Coming into something new can be really hard,” Hernandez said. “They kept a positive attitude.”