Injuries that put two starters on the shelf forced Pasadena City College women's volleyball head coach Mike Terrill and his staff to make a series of adjustments going into Thursday's match against Mt. San Jacinto. But the Lancers new lineup came through in a 4-set victory, 27-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-14, in their home opener at Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium.
PCC (4-5 overall) snapped the Eagles (5-3) 5-match win streak and won its second in a row. Outside hitter Kendall Schmedes, who had 10 kills, played a pivotal role on defense and tallied a match-high 23 digs. Rachel Johnson moved to middle blocker and did well with six kills, five blocks to go with four service aces. Sophomore OH Paige Clingaman switched to opposite and powered the team early as she scored seven of her 13 kills in the opening set.
With regular setter Emily Leung out with an undisclosed injury, PCC turned to its two frosh setters in Tehya Topalian (25 assists, eight digs, two aces) and Heather Collado (12 assists and nine digs).
"We had to really scramble and put together a brand new lineup in just the last two days," Terrill said. "We changed to a 6-2 offense and our two young setters stepped up. Rachel Johnson did a great job in the middle and Kendall was big on defense. Our libero Grace Crawford has been steady for us. Paige hit the ball well. At the end, we got a big boost from Vanessa Lopez in that fourth set. This was really a total team effort against a very well-coached team in Mt. San Jacinto."
Another Lancer with a big performance was frosh starting outside hitter Camille Ferguson, who had seven kills, 13 digs and three aces. Letterman middle blocker Lania Potter added six kills and a team-high eight blocks (seven as assists).
PCC trailed 13-10 in a pivotal third set and was tied 20-20. A kill by Schmedes and a set-clinching ace by Johnson gave the Lancers a 3-point set win and a 2-1 games lead. In the fourth set, PCC jumped ahead 6-2, then 13-6 and 19-10 with Lopez nailed the team's 12th ace for match point.
The Lancers will host the PCC Quad tourney on Saturday, Sept. 16. The Lancers face Antelope Valley College in a 12:30 match and then play 210-freeway rival Citrus at 3 p.m. Ventura is also participating in the 4-team event as it plays Citrus at 12:30 p.m. and AVC at 3 p.m.
