In one of their bigger upsets in recent years, the Cerritos College volleyball team registered a win over visiting Mt. San Antonio College on Friday, 25-22, 25-23, 25-22. The victory for the #18-ranked Falcons (7-2) over the #11-ranked Mounties (10-5) snapped a five-match losing streak against Mt. SAC, which dates back to the 2021 season. The team will open South Coast Conference South Division play next Friday when they travel to El Camino College for a 6:00 p.m. match.

In each of the three sets, the score could have gone either way. Leading 21-19 in the first set, kills by sophomores Lillianna Peterson (California HS) and Sydney May (Los Alamitos HS/UC Santa Cruz), coupled with an attack error, put the Falcons in front, 24-20. After a pair of Mounties points, sophomore Jasmine Soto-Castro (Schurr HS) gave Cerritos a 1-0 set lead with her kill. Although Cerritos led for the majority of the second set, Mt. San Antonio went on a run and took their first lead at 23-22. Consecutive kills from Soto-Castro, followed by a kill from May gave Cerritos a 25-23 win.

Riding the momentum of the first two sets, the Falcons sprinted out to a 13-5 lead. Coming out of a Mounties timeout, they ran off eight straight points to tie the set at 13-13. It was another back and forth set, with Cerritos looking to pull away at 19-15 after five Mt. SAC attack errors. Cerritos received a huge kill from Soto-Castro to regain the serve and a 23-19 advantage. After scoring consecutive points to draw to within 24-22, the Mounties hit the ball out, which gave the Falcons a sweep.

May recorded 12 kills, along with 15 assists and eight digs, with Soto-Castro posting another solid match with 12 kills and 11 digs. Sophomore Monserrat Rodriguez (Gahr HS/Long Beach City College) led the team with 15 kills and was a power at the net and in other ways, as she finished with 10 digs and four service aces. The Falcons also received five kills from Peterson, with sophomore Priscilla Castillo (Schurr HS) turning in 15 digs and a pair of service aces.

Photos by Daryl Peterson