Not ready to see their season come to an end, the Cerritos College volleyball team defeated a state-ranked team for the second time this season. On Friday, the Falcons (12-7, 7-7) earned a five-set win over visiting East Los Angeles College, 21-25, 25-22, 25-21, 18-25, 15-2 and defeated the Huskies for the second time this season. They came into the match ranked #24 in the state. Next Wednesday, Cerritos travel to Los Angeles City College in another South Coast Conference match. The team currently sits in sixth place, but could finish in a three-way tie for fourth place with wins in their last two matches.

After splitting the first two sets, Cerritos took a 2-1 lead in sets when they held off East LA, 25-21 in the third set. The Falcons led, 20-17 after a service ace from freshman Priscilla Castillo (Schurr HS), while the team benefitted from a rotation error called against the Huskies, followed by an attack error to cap off the win. East Los Angeles broke open a close 15-15 match in the fourth set when they went on to post 10 of the final 13 points to force a fifth and deciding set.

The Falcons dominated the fifth set and seemed to build momentum and confidence at the same time. After scoring the first five points, thanks to a pair of kills from sophomore Jayda Harris-Amete (La Mirada HS). On the fifth point, the rally stayed alive when sophomore Madison Borja (La Mirada HS) recorded a spectacular diving digs. The Huskies recorded the next point, but Cerritos responded with seven straight points with Harris-Amete serving.

During that rally, freshman Brisa Cortez (Schurr HS) recorded a pair of kills, while she shared in a block with sophomore Erykah Scott (Bellflower HS). After that block, Scott recorded a solo block, which made it a 12-2 score in the set. Cerritos finished off the Huskies on a pair of Cortez kills and another service ace from Castillo.

Harris-Amete capped off the night with 15 kills, while Cortez had a season-high 13 kills, with many of them coming in critical parts of the match. Freshman Jasmine Soto (Schurr HS) also recorded 10 kills, with freshman setter Leeya Rubio (Schurr HS) dishing out 48 assists to go along with a team-high 17 digs and also added four service aces. Castillo shared the team lead with 17 digs and produced seven service aces, while Scott finished with eight kills.

Photos by Daryl Peterson