Volleyball: Team drops conference opener to El Camino

File Photo: Sara Hickman had three kills and eight digs in the Falcons loss to El Camino
File Photo: Sara Hickman had three kills and eight digs in the Falcons loss to El Camino

The Cerritos College volleyball team opened South Coast Conference play with a 19-25, 14-25, 16-25 setback against perennial state power El Camino College on Friday. On Wednesday, the Falcons (3-6, 0-1) return home for a 6:00 p.m. conference match against Pasadena City College.

In the first game, Cerritos opened up an 8-2 lead and led by a 15-9 score before the Warriors started coming back. El Camino scored five straight points to tie the game at 16-16 and the Falcons held their final lead of the game, 17-16 after a service error. A service error gave the momentum back and ECC scored nine of the next 11 points to pull out the win. The final two points came on service receiving errors against Cerritos.

An 8-0 deficit was one the team could not recover from in the second game, as the Falcons were never close. Seven attack errors hurt the Falcons, while ECC's Nicole Echeverri had four kills and a service ace to cause some of the team's struggles. Cerritos was as close an 8-7 in the third game, but just didn't have enough firepower to overthrow the Warriors.

Sophomore Jasmynne Roberts (Long Beach Poly HS) led the team with 10 kills, but had 11 attack errors, with sophomore Lisa Villarroel (Long Beach Wilson HS/LBCC) contributing five kills, four service aces and three blocks. The team committed 19 attack errors, eight service errors and eight receiving errors, which aided El Camino in their win. Sophomore setter Michelle Barba (Downey HS) dished out 16 assists, while sophomore Sara Hickman (La Mirada HS) led the team with eight digs to go along with her three kills.