When news came out that unranked Cerritos College had upset state #10 Mt. San Antonio on Wednesday, the unranked El Camino College Warriors figured why not pull the same trick on the state #3 Pasadena City College women's volleyball team. ECC, a perennial champion of the South Coast Conference, has fallen on hard times of late with its worst start since the 1990s but it has always counted on its success on its home floor and its hex on PCC.
ECC had won 10 straight v. the Lancers going back to the 2013 season and five in a row on the Warriors home floor, so history was on its side. The Warriors came out flying and were a point away at 24-21 of clinching the first set. But as things go this resilient Pasadena team didn't cave in. The Lancers roared back with five consecutive points capped by kills from Verenice Gonzalez and Nalani Young to win set #1 26-24. Even a Warriors win in set #3 didn't cause too much of a letdown.
PCC trailed 23-22 in the fourth, but again whipped into high gear with the last three points, including match point by Paulina Lopez in giving the SoCal Region's #1 Lancers their sixth straight victory, 26-24, 25-18, 18-25, 25-23, Friday night. Pasadena is 9-1 overall and 4-0 in the SCC. El Camino fell to 3-10 and 1-2 in conference play despite showing signs that its record could just as easily be reversed if not for four 5-set defeats and late collapses in a few other defeats.
Meanwhile, Pasadena totaled 60 kills, spreading the wealth through a personal season-high 13 by Lopez, 13 by Camila Sanchez-Tellez, another personal high by Gonzalez of 12, nine by Young (and a season-high 26 digs with three aces), and eight by Sabiya Esquivel. The setter duo of Annie Lay (24 assists, 12 digs) and Nayeli SalasOrtiz (22 assists, two aces and two kills) were busy making smart plays to keep El Camino's defense guessing.
"Our competitive level in practice dipped Thursday and therefore our level of play suffered a bit in this match," said PCC head coach Mike Terrill, who recorded win #75 since taking over the program in 2016. "We give a lot of credit to El Camino. They're one of the hardest fighting teams we've faced this season and they made it difficult to score points."
On the positive side, the coach commented: "Our setters had another really good match that resulted in very solid attacking performances from Cami, Vere, and Paulina, who had her best offensive performance since coming to PCC. Kei'ana (Pascua) and Nala once again were digging everything."
Young and Pascua have been a double dose of D, mostly in the back row, especially in road matches where the two have kept the PCC passing game strong. Pascua, the frosh libero, added 20 digs and dished out six assists.
"I have confidence our team will figure out a way to come back with more hunger next week," said Terrill, who has high expectations for his squad to be consistent.