In her first match as the new Cerritos College volleyball head coach, Kari Pestolesi saw her team earn a 25-18, 25-23, 19-25, 25-23 win over visiting Citrus College on Wednesday afternoon. The Falcons (1-0) will now host Fullerton College at 6:00 p.m. in their second match of the day.

"I wanted us to be competitive and I didn't mind some of the mistakes we made," said Pestolesi. "I think we gave them the third game, but once we get all of our players out there, I think things will continue to get better."

Competing without a few of their players, Cerritos turned to freshman Grace Mendez (King City, CA HS) and she delivered 19 kills on 46 attempts, while also contributing nine digs. The duo of sophomores Mary Keil (Long Beach Poly HS) and Jasmine McNeal (Long Beach Poly HS) each added nine kills in the win.

The Falcons posted a solid win in the first set and led 19-14 in the second set before the Owls scored nine straight points to take a 23-19 lead. A service error, followed by kills from sophomore Leslie Larranaga (John Glenn HS) and Mendez got the team to within 23-22. A pair of attack errors were followed by a McNeal kill to close out the comeback.

In the clinching fourth set, the Falcons saw an 18-14 lead slip away into an 19-18 deficit, as Leah Price (18 kills) continued to keep Citrus within striking distance. Kills from Mendez, McNeal and an ace from Keil put Cerritos on top, 21-19. Another Mendez kills put it at match point and sophomore Monica Vega (South Gate HS) closed it out with her eighth kill of the day.

Sophomore setter Lorinet Marquez (Cerritos HS/Providence, CA College) dished out 39 assists in the win, while Vega had a team-high 17 kills. Sophomore Dymond Johnson (Gahr HS/Cypress College) played solid on the back line and added 15 digs and five assists, with the team serving up 17 aces. Larranaga led the team with seven aces, while Keil had four.

Photos by Daryl Peterson