Hosting #19-ranked Mt. San Antonio on Wednesday night, the Cerritos College volleyball team was defeated in four sets in a South Coast Conference crossover match. The 16-25, 14-25, 25-19, 19-25 loss drops the Falcons record to 7-8 overall, while the team will host Pasadena City College at 6:00 p.m. on Friday in another crossover match.

The Mounties (13-1) broke open a close 15-12 score in the first set with five straight points for a 20-12 advantage, with Jordon Wilson recording three straight kills. Cerritos took a 5-1 lead to start the second set, but lost the lead at 8-7 and never led again in the set.

Once again, the Falcons got a fast start to the third set, scoring the first four points. This time, they maintained the lead and recorded the set win to extend the match. Freshman Grace Mendez (King City HS) accounted for six kills in the set, while sophomores Mary Keil (Long Beach Poly HS) and Rocio Rojo-Perez (Bellflower HS) each added four kills to lead the Falcons.

A slow start to the fourth set put Cerritos behind 7-2, with the Mounties gaining more momentum as the match progressed. They did get to within 13-9 after two Dymond Johnson (Gahr HS/Cypress College) service aces and a Rojo-Perez kill, but surrendered six of the next nine points and never recovered.

Mendez led the team with 12 kills, while Rojo-Perez (17 digs) and Keil (eight digs) each added 10 kills in the loss. Sophomore setter Lorinet Marquez (Cerritos HS/Providence, CA College) dished out 36 assists, while sophomore Jasmine McNeal (Long Beach Poly HS) produced five kills.

Photos by Daryl Peterson