Needing a win to keep their playoff hopes in sight, the Cerritos College volleyball team fought to win the last two games and defeat visiting Long Beach City College, 15-25, 27-25, 25-27, 25-14, 15-12 at The Aviary on Friday night. The win secures at least a share of second place for the Falcons (13-8, 10-3), which is their best South Coast Conference finish since the 2006 season. The team is seeking their first post-season bid since 2009. They close out the regular season at home with a 6:00 p.m. conference match against Los Angeles Harbor College.

After a disastrous start to the match, Cerritos pulled out the second set after trailing 23-20, while they watched the Vikings (10-12, 7-6) come back from a 5-0 deficit in the third set to snag a victory. The teams traded points from 20-20 until LBCC broke a 25-25 tie on a Chanel Brown kill and Cerritos attack error to win the game and take a 2-1 lead in sets.

In the fourth set, the teams were tied at 7-7 until the Falcons slowly started pulling away and scored 13 of the next 16 points. The Vikings hurt their cause with nine attack errors in the fourth game, while Cerritos received four straight kills from Jasmynne Roberts (Long Beach Poly HS), who teamed with Sara Hickman (La Mirada HS) to duel the Vikings three-headed attack trio of Bra'shawnda Byrd (26 kills), Chanel Brown (18 kills) and Stacy Kozlowski (14 kills). The fourth set win set up a 15-point fifth set.

It was a quick 7-1 Cerritos lead in the fifth and deciding set with sophomore Jasmin Mitchell (Warren HS) taking over at the net with a pair of blocks. The Vikings closed to within three points on several occasions, and then Mitchell cleanly blocked Byrd for a 14-12 before finishing the match with a kill.

Mitchell finished the night with three solo blocks and four block assists, while the Falcons finished with 14 block assists on the night. Sophomore setter Michelle Barba (Downey HS), who distributed 47 assists, also got into the act and shared a block with Mitchell. Roberts concluded with night with 22 kills and a match-high 25 digs, while Hickman (12 kills) and Mitchell (eight kills) also provided offense. Sophomore Lisa Villarroel (Long Beach Millikan HS/LBCC) added six kills and had a hand in four blocks, while freshman libero Jasmine Peralta (Lakewood HS) had 10 digs and even contributed a pair of kills. Freshman Sandra Alvarado (Western HS) posted 17 digs.

Photos by Daryl Peterson