Sophomore outside hitter Rayleen Rivera accomplished a feat Saturday that had never occurred in Pasadena City College women's volleyball history. She landed a school record for kills in a match with 30 in a 5-set victory over Chaffey. Rivera's 67 kills overall in four matches helped the Lancers finish 2-2 as consolation champions at the season-opening, 2nd Annual Pierce College Kickoff Classic held Aug. 26-27.
In the past 21 years, only four other players reached as many as 28 kills, including PCC Sports Hall of Famer Mary Morgan in 1995 in a state tournament match v. Fullerton. Both Nora To'omalatai (2013 v. Orange Coast) and Patti Blasco (2009 v. Mt. San Antonio) reached 29 kills while Mariel Arcos had 28 in a 2001 match against Mt. SAC.
Rivera's performance highlighted what was Mike Terrill's first head coaching win as PCC outlasted Chaffey, 26-24, 19-25, 25-21, 30-32, 15-9. Rivera's 30th kill made it 9-7 in the deciding set. The point happened during a 5-0 sideout rally for the Lancers that included three aces served by Kelsey Sarreal. Danielle Castillo's kill finished things at match point. While it's early in the year and a host of teams haven't begun their first matches, Rivera is the current state leader in kills.
Also against Chaffey, setter Emily Leung recorded 62 assists while libero Monica Hernandez totaled 32 digs. Paige Clingaman added 22 kills, Amanda Pickering 13 kills. Sarreal served five of the team's 14 aces with Michelle Boyd contributing four aces and 15 digs. Pasadena won despite making 18 serving errors overall.
PCC completed a 2-0 Saturday by sweeping new fellow South Coast Conference North Division foe Rio Hondo, 25-16, 25-18, 25-19, in the consolation final of the 8-team tourney. Rivera led the way with 14 kills and served a team-best six of the Lancers 15 aces.
On Friday in the '16 season opener, Pasadena was swept by last year's state No. 11-ranked team MiraCosta, 25-23, 25-18, 25-19. Later in the day, the Lancers made it tough for 2015 No. 5-rated Santa Barbara City before losing to the Vaqueros in four sets, 25-17, 25-14, 19-25, 25-21. Rivera had a double-double on 17 kills and 11 digs. PCC led 15-13 in the fourth game, but SBCC took advantage of nine Lancers miscues to clinch its win.
Hernandez, a sophomore, totaled 65 digs in the four matches while Clingaman scored 46 kills. As a team, the Lancers served an impressive 43 aces.
"We had some first game jitters on day 1," Terrill said. "On day 2, we attacked from the service line and got more comfortable battling as a team. We had excellent energy from our bench."
On Saturday, Sept. 3, the Lancers return to the floor against Allan Hancock College in an 11 a.m. match at the Moorpark Quad tourney. PCC then faces host Moorpark at 2 p.m.
[Photo--Rayleen Rivera in action during the Pierce Kickoff Classic, image by Richard Quinton.]
