As much as women's volleyball is a team sport, an individual's impact can often make the difference between winning and losing. On Wednesday night, state #17 Pasadena City College found itself in a fierce battle with unranked Mt. San Antonio. Every time the visiting Mounties grabbed the momentum, there was PCC outside hitter Nalani Young making a play to keep the Lancers in control.
In the end, Young ripped a kill for match point as PCC outlasted Mt. SAC in five sets, 24-26, 25-21, 25-11, 23-25, 15-12. In winning their fourth in a row, the Lancers upped their overal record to 16-4 and South Coast Conference mark to 7-2. PCC has enjoyed success in 5-set matches at 4-1 and has played well at Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium, now also at 4-1 on home court.
Young finished with a season-best 19 kills and 15 digs while also serving and passing at high standards. In one sideout during the first part of the third set, Young served four aces and helped PCC jump out to a 9-1 lead. In the opening set, Young saved set point momentarily with a kill that made it 24-24. With PCC down a set, Young knocked down four kills, including a second set point that tied the match at that point, 1-1.
In the fourth set, the 5-foot-8 freshman from Duarte High scored three kills in a 5-1 run that broke a 17-17 tie. She later slammed a kill that briefly saved set point at 24-22. The Mounties followed with a kill by Juliana Gomez that sent the match to a deciding 5th set.
In the final set, middle blocker Paulina Lopez came up big with two blocks and an attack kill that gve PCC an 8-3 lead. The lead got to 11-5 and then 14-9 on back-to-back kills by Young and opposite Kaitlyn Karsten. Again, Mt. SAC would rally as they cut it to 14-12. But Young capped the victory with her match-point kill on a set by setter Nikki Hernandez, who collected a season-high 46 assists.
"Nalani is just a winner," said PCC head coach Mike Terrill. "She has an incredible compete level and I think in this match our team followed her lead. We came out slowly, and then I thought we controlled the match in the middle sets. Young isn't always going to lead us in kills, but she does so many things well especially on defense. Even in this match, her serve receive was better and she had a great serving run for us in that third set. Paulina was another player that stepped up for us and was a big factor at the net in the fifth set."
Lopez finished with nine kills and six blocks. Outside hitter Erykah Wilson added 14 kills and three aces while Karsten had eight kills. Libero Grace Crawford totaled 20 digs, five assists and had two aces. Overall, the team outblocked Mt. SAC, 10-5, and had the advantage in aces, 13-5. Young collected her 11th double-double in kills-digs this season.
The Mounties (6-14, 3-6) stayed in the match thanks to the duo of Macy Barnes (seven kills, 15 digs) and Camille Boone (eight kills, three blocks).
On Oct. 18 at Rio Hondo, PCC swept the Roadrunners, 25-21, 25-23, 25-15. Wilson scored 10 kills and Hernandez had a strong overall performance with 22 assists, 13 digs, two kills, two aces and two blocks. Young added nine kills and 10 digs while Karsten had eight kills.
On Friday, Oct. 25, the Lancers face-off at #15 Long Beach City College. First serve is 6 p.m.