After the Cerritos College volleyball team suffered their 18-25, 20-25, 10-25 setback against visiting El Camino College on Wednesday, the team found themselves in a second place tie in the South Coast Conference. The Falcons (9-7, 6-2) are now tied with Mt. San Antonio College (10-6, 6-2) with six matches remaining. In their first meeting, Cerritos defeated the Mounties in four games. The Falcons will now travel to Pasadena City College this Friday for a 6:00 p.m. match.

In the loss against first place El Camino (16-2, 8-0), Cerritos played a very competitive match in the first two games, but ran out of steam in the third set. The Falcons fought back from a 7-3 deficit in the first game and scored seven straight points to take a 10-7 lead. The Warriors responded for five consecutive points and took a 12-10 advantage they would not surrender. The duo of Nicole Echeverri and Kimberly Haney each had four kills in that first game, with Echeverri finishing off the set with two straight kills.

Cerritos pushed out to a lead in the second set, thanks to sophomore Jasmynne Roberts (Long Beach Poly HS) and her four kills, while the Warriors hurt their cause with 10 attack errors. The largest lead for the Falcons was 13-9 and after three straight points, ECC tied the game at 18-18. Both teams traded a pair of points and after an El Camino timeout, they scored the next five points to take the set, with Echeverri saving her two kills for the late push.

In the third set, it was all El Camino, as they opened a 15-5 lead with the Falcons unable to recover. Haney (14 kills) and Echeverri (10 kills) led the Warriors, who also got six kills and four block assists from Laynie Thompson. Roberts finished with a team-high eight kills and had 10 digs, with sophomores Sara Hickman (La Mirada HS) and Jasmin Mitchell (Warren HS) each contributing five kills in the effort. Sophomore setter Michelle Barba (Downey HS) had 22 assists, while freshman Jasmine Peralta (Lakewood HS) led the team with 12 digs.

Photos by Daryl Peterson