Hoping to avoid another 15-year winning drought against El Camino College, the Cerritos College volleyball team earned a 26-24, 25-12, 25-22 South Coast Conference win over the Warriors on Wednesday. From 2006-21 the Falcons had gone winless in their 29 matches against El Camino until a thrilling five-set victory in the SCC Tournament in 2021 that ended the losing skid. Tonight's victory was also the first sweep over the Warriors since November 12, 2003.

Cerritos did drop both of their matches against El Camino last season and with their victory on Wednesday, have now split their last four meetings with the Warriors.

On Friday, the Falcons (6-3, 1-3) will host Los Angeles Harbor at 6:00 p.m. in another conference match.

 

In the first set, the Falcons saw themselves trailing, 23-20 after the match had been tied five times, including 19-19. But the Warriors scored four of the next five points before Cerritos made their comeback. A kill by sophomore Jayda Harris-Amete (La Mirada HS) was followed by a pair of service aces from freshman setter Leeya Rubio (Schurr HS) to tie the set at 23-23. 

 

A Jasmine Soto (Schurr HS) kill put Cerritos at set point and after an attack error, the Falcons recorded the next two points to come away with the win, 26-24 Soto made it 25-24, while Harris-Amete won the set with a service ace.

 

Riding that momentum, the Falcons jumped out to a 9-3 lead in the second set until the Warriors closed the deficit to 13-9. Cerritos ran off 12 of the final 16 points for a convincing set victory, with Soto and Harris-Amete doing most of the damage. However, it was freshman Lillianna Peterson (California HS) who slammed home the final two points of the second set.

 

It was another back and forth set, with Cerritos holding a slim, 19-16 advantage. A pair of El Camino attack errors were followed by a kill from freshman Brisa Cortez (Schurr HS) to put the team in front, 21-18. After El Camino worked their way back to a 21-21 tie, the two teams traded points, while an attack error gave the Falcons a 23-22 lead. Harris-Amete put the team at match point and when the Warriors hit the ball into the net, Cerritos completed the sweep, 25-22.

 

Soto was masterful at the net, as she slammed home 12 kills with just one error and a .379 hitting percentage, with Harris-Amete finishing with 10 kills, a team-high 16 digs and another three service aces to her performance. Rubio kept the Warriors off-balance all night and dished out 31 assists to go along with her four kills and six digs. Peterson also had four kills for the Falcons, as the team hit a season-best .263.