The Cerritos College volleyball team held off a second game threat against East Los Angeles College on Wednesday and went on to record a three-game sweep. The Falcons (15-10, 8-4) posted a 25-19, 28-26, 25-19 South Coast Conference win over the visiting Huskies in their final home match of the season. On Friday, the team will travel to Los Angeles Trade-Tech College for a 6:00 p.m. match and then close out the season at El Camino College next Wednesday.

After leading wire to wire in the first set, Cerritos fought back from three game points against East LA in the second game. The Falcons led, 22-21, but a trio of attack errors saw them on the brink of losing the game. Sophomore setter Natalie Caravantes (Baldwin Park HS) kept the game alive with a kill, and another kill by sophomore Nicole Spigner (La Mirada HS) tied the game at 24-24. ELAC's Yekatarina Makarova slammed home a kill to put the Huskies one point away from evening the match before an attack error tied it once again.

The Falcons were unable to get the ball over on the next point, and forced with their third game point, a service error by East LA's Jessica Nunez knotted the game against at 26-26. The Huskies were called for a ball handling error, which preceded a service ace by Caravantes, giving Cerritos the game.

Cerritos jumped out to a 12-7 lead in the third game and then upped that to 16-9 on kills by freshmen Kayley Stephens (Cypress HS) and Brenda Monzon (Bell Gardens HS), as well as sophomore Valerie Montoya (La Mirada HS). The Huskies responded with six straight points before a pair of kills by Monzon ended their rally. The Falcons closed off the match with a kill from freshman Jasmine McNeal (Long Beach Poly HS).

Spigner led the team with 10 kills and added 12 digs, while Monzon and Stephens each contributed seven kills. Caravantes produced 31 assists to go with her three kills, with sophomore Jasmine Peralta (Lakewood HS) leading the team with 17 digs. Montoya and McNeal both drove home four kills, with freshman Christina Kennedy (Cabrillo HS) doing a great job in the back row with 12 digs.

Photos by Daryl Peterson