In their South Coast Conference opener, the Cerritos College volleyball team recorded a 25-20, 25-19, 25-18 sweep over Long Beach City College on Friday evening. The Falcons (8-6, 1-0) fought back from early deficits in each of the first two games, but turned things around to record the win. The team will now travel to Mt. San Antonio College next Wednesday for a 6:00 p.m. match.
Trailing 13-5 in the first game, Cerritos received three kills from freshman Monica Vega (South Gate HS) and one by freshman Kayley Stephens (Cypress HS), along a pair of Vikings (2-9, 0-1) errors that helped them get closer. A bad set and a an attacking error got the team to within 14-12, and when sophomore Nicole Spigner (La Mirada HS) recorded a pair of kills, with Stephens and Vega adding one each, the Falcons led, 16-15. The team continued their run and scored nine of the final 14 points to take the first set.
LBCC took a 6-1 lead in the second set with Lauren Christensen accounting for three kills. But just like in the first set, the Falcons started chipping away and took advantage of several Vikings attack errors to climb back into the game. A pair of errors by Alexxis Todd, coupled with kills from sophomores Valerie Montoya (La Mirada HS) and Natalie Caravantes (Baldwin Park HS) put Cerritos on top, 14-12. They would not relinquish the lead the rest of the night and received two kills from Vega, with Long Beach making five attack errors the remainder of the set.
The Falcons opened an 8-2 lead in the third set, paced by four LB City attack errors and kills from four different players. Cerritos led from start to finish and were even up, 24-14 before the Vikings scored four straight points. An attack error - the 22nd of the night by Long Beach secured the win for the Falcons.
Spigner led the team with nine kills and 18 digs, while Vega added eight kills and the setter Caravantes coupled her 32 assists with six kills. Stephens posted five kills and three blocking assists, with sophomore Jasmine Peralta (Lakewood HS) and freshman Christina Kennedy (Cabrillo HS) each finishing with nine digs. Christensen led LBCC with eight kills.
Photos by Daryl Peterson
