Costly mistakes and a late-match offensive drought led to a spoiling of Sophomore Night for the volleyball team in the Gymnasium Friday.

The Comets fell to the College of Marin in a hard fought five-set match. Neither team was able to gain a serious advantage over the other, as the contest was a toss up the entire match.

The Mariners eventually won the contest 3-2: 25-15, 17-25, 22-25, 25-23, and 15-11.

After solid play in the third set, the Comets needed to continue their great play in the fourth. CCC started off great and got off to a hot start offensively. However, the Mariners were on their heels throughout the set.

It appeared CCC would come out victorious on its Sophomore Night. But Marin would not go away as it continued to battle and fight back into the game. The Comet offensive would begin to become ineffective late in the fourth set as the Mariner defense began to challenge the Comets.

“Their blocker was huge and we weren’t ready,” Micaela Zaragoza-Soto said. Marin’s blockers neutralized the Comet attack for the majority of the fourth set.

Solid defense allowed the Mariners to gain some points off of blocks, opening the door for easier offensive execution as well. The shift in momentum caused CCC to lose composure, which led to inefficient defense and offense late.

CCC continued its struggles at the beginning of the fifth set. COM went up 5-0 quickly in the final set. There were many Comet mistakes and the Mariners did not hesitate to take advantage of them.

Coach Zachary Shrieve said the players got a little “tight” and they made too many mistakes. But the Comets did not give up easily. They tried to gut it out and pull off a comeback. But, the Mariner offense was rolling and CCC had no answer.

“It’s hard to come back in a game of 15 (the points needed to win the fifth game), especially when they have their best server to start the set,” Shrieve said.

CCC had played very well until the end of the fourth set and the beginning of the last set.

Marin looked as if it was not going to have enough energy to overcome the deficit the team faced being down 2-1 games. But they were able to get a good defensive groove going and CCC could not find a way to get around the large wall they had.

“Coach said keep hitting harder,” middle backer Valeria Avila said. “It was more about making ‘smart’ moves rather than trying to overpower them.”

Coach Shrieve said, “We’ve been playing well but we just haven’t been winning.”

CCC ends its season on a three-game losing streak to finish the season at 4-15 (2-12 in the BVC).