Hosting their own tournament this weekend, the Cerritos College volleyball team split their two matches on the first day. The Falcons opened with a 20-25, 18-25, 25-27 loss to Santa Monica College and then responded with a 25-22, 25-23, 22-25, 15-25, 15-13 win over Victor Valley College. On Saturday, the team will open the championship playoff round with a 9:00 a.m. match against College of the Canyons. A win, and Cerritos (2-2) will play at 1:00 p.m., while an 11:00 a.m. match would be next if they lost to the Cougars.

Cerritos vs. Santa Monica: There wasn't a whole lot Cerritos could do against Corsairs outside hitter Greta Schmittdiel, who finished the match with 21 kills. The Falcons struggled at the net at times and Santa Monica was right there to jump on any mistake. Leads in each of the sets were washed away, including a 17-16 lead in the second set. Three kills by Schmittdiel, along with a pair of service aces aided Santa Monica in taking a two-set lead. The Falcons held an 8-2 lead in the third set, but couldn't maintain. The teams were tied nine times starting at 16-16 and with the score at 25-25, Aybike Topuz recorded a service ace and then an attack error ended the match. Sophomore Jasmynne Roberts (Long Beach Poly HS) led the team with 11 kills, while sophomore Sara Hickman (La Mirada HS) added seven kills and nine digs. The duo of sophomore Michelle Barba (Downey HS) and freshman Natalie Caravantes (Montebello HS) posted 16 and 14 assists, respectively, while freshman Jasmine Peralta (Lakewood HS) led the back row with 14 digs.

Cerritos vs. Victor Valley: It appeared as though the Falcons were on their way to a three-game sweep after winning the first two sets. But the Rams came back with a pair of wins to force a fifth and deciding set. Cerritos jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the fifth set and even led, 14-9. A service error and a pair of attack errors helped Victor Valley get to within 14-13. However, Caravantes finished off the match with a kill. Roberts led all players with 23 kills and 25 digs in the winning cause, while Hickman contributed 18 kills and 13 digs. Even with big kill numbers, Cerritos still had 47 attack errors, which helped the Rams stay in the match. Sophomore Jasmin Mitchell (Warren HS) finished with seven kills, while Barba (33 assists) and Caravantes (23) directed the offense.

Photos by Daryl Peterson