Mired in a five-match losing streak, the Cerritos College volleyball team snapped out of it with a 25-23, 25-20, 25-15 win over visiting Southwestern College on Wednesday night. The Falcons (4-6) will host their third match in a row when they entertain Chaffey College at 6:00 p.m. in a South Coast Conference crossover match on Friday.
Taking on the winless Jaguars (0-13), Cerritos needed a full set the get going, as they were tested in the beginning of the match. The set was tied five times early on until the Falcons opened up a 16-11 lead after a Nadia Arreaga (L.A.C.E.S. HS) kills. But Southwestern slowly worked their way back in and tied it at 20-20 after a Veronica Ortiz service ace. It was 22-22 until an Alexia Torres (Downey HS) kill and a Jaguars attack error made it 24-22. The Falcons pulled out the set on an attack error.
Looking to put some distance between them and Southwestern in the second set, Cerritos opened up an 8-0 lead until the Jaguars responded with seven consecutive points. They continued to trade points until the Falcons pushed ahead, 19-11 on a kill from Jody Suski (Cerritos HS) and a service ace from Regan Stanton (Lakewood HS/Long Beach City College). It got as close as 22-19 for the Falcons until kills from freshmen Brooke Winquist (Lakewood HS) and Torres were accompanied with an attack error to finish off the set.
Looking to continue that momentum, Cerritos jumped out to a 10-2 advantage in the third set and didn't let the Jaguars get any closer than four points. Suski served the final four points of the match, which included a pair of service aces. She led the team with 11 kills and 16 digs, with Winquist accounting for 10 kills. Both Arreaga and Torres finished with seven kills apiece, with freshman Lizbeth Vega (Paramount HS) recording 23 assists and three service aces. Freshman Mirka Granoble (Downey HS) returned to the lineup in a limited role and dished out seven assists, with Stanton adding 12 digs.