AUBURN — Aaliyah Smith and Tiara Begishe agree that Central Maine Community College’s success and its national volleyball championship bid were the result of teamwork, dedication and diversity.

Members of the men’s soccer team attribute that same teamwork atmosphere that gave the Mustangs another prosperous season.

CMCC’s women’s volleyball and men’s soccer teams were rewarded with bids to play in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association championships at Virginia Beach, Virginia, beginning on Thursday. This is the first trip to a national tournament for the fledgling volleyball squad.

The Mustang volleyball team will open Division II tournament pool play against the University of Cincinnati-Clermont College at 1 p.m. on Thursday. The men’s soccer team will also take on UC-Clermont College on Friday, beginning at 4:45 p.m. Both games will be played at the Princess Anne Athletic Complex and will be streamed on the USCAA website.

Smith, an Arizona native who was named the Yankee Small College Conference Player of the Year, is proud of the Mustangs’ perseverance. 

“We worked really well staying together as a team,” Smith, a freshman, said. “We did very well on servicing. We did really well on serves. We had a lot of good aces.”

Begishe, also an Arizona native, who is majoring in education, said strong bonds between teammates was also a major factor in their 13-3 season and copping the YSCC title.

“What I liked was the connection that we actually had on and off the court,” Begishe said. “We bonded pretty well.”

Begishe, who received All-YSCC honors, described the Mustangs’ national bid as a real eye-opener.

“It is just like being thrown in the middle of the dance floor and you are just expected to dance,” Begishe said. “I think it is kind of like that, but like I think there is something good coming out of it at the same time.

“I believe in this team. I believe we can go far in nationals, and I believe in like every single one of my teammates as well — my coach, too. He is a really great coach.”

CMCC volleyball coach Kyle Chapman said winning the YSCC put the Mustangs into the top six, giving them a first-ever tourney bid. The Mustangs pulled off an amazing comeback to beat Paul Smith’s College in the YSCC final.

“I like (the Mustangs’) diversity,” Chapman said. “We have a couple of people from Arizona. We have some from Colorado, Alabama, a couple from New Hampshire, a couple from Maine (including Lewiston grad Sage Cormier). We have a really diverse group that brings a lot to the floor.”

There are other factors that came into play for the Mustangs’ success.

“We ball-controlled really well,” Chapman said. “We passed and served really well. We did a good job minimizing our mistakes against other people, which is the game of volleyball.”

The men’s soccer team also earned a bid by repeating as the YSCC champions and will now be competing in the USCAA Division II national tourney come Friday. The Mustangs clung to a 1-0 first-half lead to beat Albany College of Pharmacy in the YSCC final. Moses Lumu’s first-half goal was the clincher.

CMCC first-year men’s soccer coach Kiaran McCormack noted that the Mustangs compiled a 6-0-1 finish in the YSCC and a 10-1-2 overall record.

“There is only three players that returned from last year’s team,” McCormack, an Ireland transplant and the former varsity girls coach Gray-New Gloucester, said. “So it’s really a brand-new team. We were a great defensive team. The biggest strength we had was the guys we brought in worked hard and they had a vision what they wanted to achieve — and we got there because of their hard work.

“That biggest thing appealing to me is the mesh of cultures that we work with,” he said. “There are guys from all over the world and not just from the U.S. It is due to them that we have had the success. I just kind of guide them the right way.”

McCormack said one of the players — freshman midfielder Abdifatah Yussuf — the YSCC tournament MVP and first-team all-conference player from Nairobi, Kenya, helped steer the Mustangs to a national tournament.

“I feel like it is all about teamwork,” Yussuf, who wants to study sports management, said. “It is all about the coach, the commitment of the kids to the team.”

Freshman goalie Arnaud Nyagasaza of Auburn is studying criminal justice, but for the moment his thoughts are also focused on the tournament and his teammates.

“The first day we met it is like we know each other,” Nyagasaza said. “We play as a team; we don’t play as individuals. (McCormack) is a great guy. We are going to give all our best (at the tournament).”

The three brothers from Lewiston — Isadoro, Igor and Ivan Domingues — all enjoy the team camaraderie and the opportunity to play soccer together.

“I say we are like family, pretty much,” Isadoro, a midfielder, said. “Everybody is together. We push each other every time. I say we are like family. That is our strength.”

Igor, who plays striker and any forward position, concurred with his brother that the players’ relationships keep the Mustangs moving forward.

“We are friends before soccer,” Igor said. “The relationships are good. Just to win the championship — that is the goal.”

Ivan, who is studying business management, said he tries to do his best and “just be simple and score.”

“We are all family here,” Ivan said. “We try to be as friendly as we can. It was a tough season at the beginning. We didn’t know each other. We were just like trying to get the team together, but then we figured it out and tried our best.”

CMCC staff offered praise to both teams and celebrated the Mustangs with congratulatory cakes on Monday before the teams left for Virginia Beach on Tuesday morning.

“It is an exciting moment,” CMCC athletic director and men’s basketball coach Dave Gonyea said at the celebration on Monday. “The soccer team has done very well. Coach McCormack has changed the whole tempo … of the program.

“The kids deserve very much to go to Virginia Beach. They represent us well. The women’s volleyball coach, (Kyle) Chapman, has done a fabulous job there. He’s brought the girls in. They work incredibly hard and we are just proud of two teams going (to nationals).”

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