The Cerritos College volleyball team played five matches in two days at the inaugural Cerritos Tournament over the weekend. They split their two matches on Friday and found themselves in three long matches on Saturday before eventually finishing in fourth place out of the 12 teams. The Falcons opened with a tough 24-26, 20-25, 25-19, 25-22, 7-15 loss to College of the Canyons. Without much time to recover, they took on Glendale College and recorded a 25-14, 25-21, 24-26, 25-21 victory, which advanced them to the third place match against Santa Monica College, who swept Cerritos the day before during pool play. After dropping the first two matches, 14-25, 18-25, the Falcons fought back for a 26-24 win in the third set. Looking to extend themselves to five sets once again, they played a tight fourth match but suffered a 21-25 setback.

The team will get a week off and then host Riverside City College at 5:00 p.m. on September 24.

Cerritos vs. College of the Canyons: With a chance to take a 1-0 lead in the match, the Falcons committed several unforced errors and service errors, which allowed the Cougars to steal the first game. They played the second game close, but missed out on a chance to get a win, which backed them into a corner. But Cerritos responded with a couple of wins, thanks to the hitting of sophomore Jasmynne Roberts (Long Beach Poly HS), who finished the match with 26 kills and 29 digs. Although they were able to win two games in a row, the fifth set was all Canyons, as the Falcons had difficulty with serve reception and attack efficiency. Sophomore Sara Hickman (La Mirada HS) contributed 11 kills and 15 digs, while sophomore Lisa Villarroel (Long Beach Millikan HS) finished with nine kills. Sophomore setter Michelle Barba (Downey HS) dished out 28 assists and finished with 13 digs, with freshman Jasmine Peralta (Lakewood HS) leading the team with 30 digs.

Cerritos vs. Glendale: The trio of Hickman (12 kills, 18 digs), Roberts (11 kills, 11 digs) and Villarroel (10 kills, three aces) helped lead the Falcons to a four-game win over the Vaqueros. With very little time to rest after their five-set marathon, Cerritos had some trouble at the net, but countered that with 10 service aces and added eight blocks Freshman Tiarah McDaniel (Paramount HS) led the team with four block assists and had three kills in the win, while freshman Tisha Lenon (Gahr HS) provided nine kills in the win. Barba (23 assists, eight digs) and freshman Natalie Caravantes (Montebello HS), who had 20 assists, directed the offense.

Cerritos vs. Santa Monica: For the second time in as many days, the Falcons took on the Corsairs, with this being the third place match. The long day seemed to affect their start, as Cerritos was unable to stay close to Santa Monica. But in the third set, they came away with a 26-24 win, which extended the match. In the fourth game, the teams continued to trade points back and fourth, but the Corsairs earned a little breathing room and won the fourth set, 25-21. Villarroel led the team with 11 kills, while all-tournament selection Roberts finished with 10 kills and seven digs. Lenon and Hickman each had five kills, while sophomore Jasmin Mitchell (Warren HS) was amazing at the net with 17 block assists to go with her three kills.

Photos by Daryl Peterson