Volleyball: Two set leads slips away in loss to Long Beach

File Photo: Jasmynne Roberts recorded 13 kills and 23 digs in the Falcons five-set loss to LB City
File Photo: Jasmynne Roberts recorded 13 kills and 23 digs in the Falcons five-set loss to LB City

After winning the first two sets of their South Coast Conference match on Friday night, the Cerritos College volleyball team watched visiting Long Beach City College come back for a five-set win. The Falcons took the first two sets, 25-20, 25-20, but the Vikings extended the match with a 25-19 wins in the next two sets before posting a 15-6 score in the final set to come away with their second five-set win over Cerritos (8-11, 5-6) this season. The team will now travel to Mt. San Antonio College next Wednesday and then close out their season with a pair of home matches.

The Falcons had no answer for LBCC (8-12, 5-6) middle blocker Vashti Nettles, who recorded 21 kills in 33 attempts, which included taking over the fourth game single-handedly. With the match tied at 4-4, Nettles accounted for five kills in an eight-point rally for the Vikings. Nettles then closed out the fourth set with the team's final three kills.

In the early part of the match, it was freshman Jasmynne Roberts (Long Beach Poly HS) who handled the heavy lifting, while freshman Amanda Payne (Orange Lutheran HS) was also a threat at the net. The two combined for 23 kills, but had 21 attack errors between them, while Nettle had just four errors on the night.

Cerritos took the first two points in the final set, but Long Beach responded with five straight points and never looked back. Eight attack errors by the Falcons in the abbreviated deciding set did not help their cause, as the team dropped to 1-5 in five-set matches on the year.

Roberts also recorded a team-high 23 digs, while freshmen setters Crissy Silavong (Katella HS) and Michelle Barba (Downey HS) finished with 22 and 14 assists, respectively. Freshman Valerie Montoya (La Mirada HS) posted eight kills, with sophomore Ashley Castro (Santa Fe HS) registering five service aces and freshman Nicole Spigner (La Mirada HS) adding four.

For the Vikings, setter Melissa Yepez dished out 43 assists to go with her 12 digs and five kills, with Andrea Morales (nine kills, 18 assists) and Lauren Moreno (eight kills, 14 digs) also playing well.