While a small audience of Facebook Live viewers have enjoyed the spirited play of the state #3-ranked Pasadena City College women's volleybal this season, home fans finally got to see in-person on Wednesday what the streaming followers have seen all year--a winning team with vast depth and a swagger of confidence to go with it.
The 2021 Lancers gave fans at Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium a treat as the state's #3 squad downed #10 Mt. San Antonio in four sets, 25-23, 11-25, 25-23, 25-21, to extend their winning streak to 11 matches, and remain perfect in both South Coast Conference play and at home contests, both at 9-0.
(Fans were at the HP Gym for the first time since 2019).
PCC (14-1 overall) rallied to a win in the first set with starting middle blockers Paulina Lopez and Monet Latunde combining for seven kills in just 11 attempts and setter Annie Lay totaling six assists.
After a forgettable second set, it was the Lancers second wave of players that stepped up in setter/opposite Bia Silva, opposite/MB Camila Sanchez-Tellez, defensive specialist Saku Yoshioka, and setter Nayeli SalasOrtiz. In fact, in critical moments in the third and fourth sets, PCC head coach Mike Terrill had only had two of the match's starters on the floor in stalwart sophomore outside hitter Nalani Young and libero Kei'ana Pascua.
Sanchez-Tellez delivered 13 kills and five blocks while hitting .333 and Young tallied a double-double with 14 kills and 11 digs. It was Silva, a freshman who has slowly come back into the rotation after recovering from an injury, who sparked the offense. The freshman, who was on the bench in the entire opening set, set 11 assists and swung three kills in the team's third set triumph. Overall, she finished with nine kills, 19 assists and two aces.
In the fourth set, Silva had an unusual point celebration after one of her skilled sets gave PCC a 7-6 lead, but it was a sign of how much fun the team was having during even tense moments of the match. Sanchez-Tellez destroyed the ball in the center of Mt. SAC's side of the floor for the "perfect kill" as the fans and players roared in approval. Silva simply started walking back to the serve line as if it was just another routine play, then grinned as the rest of the team laughed at the reaction.
"I thought Cami and Bia were stabilizers for us. They played with great confidence that finally broke through with enough plays to get it done," Terrill said. "Paulina and Saku showed their maturity and led the fight in the first set comeback."
In the opening set, back-to-back aces by JJ Quarrels gave Mt. SAC (12-5, 6-3 in SCC) an early 10-5 lead. The Mounties led 14-11 and maintained the advantage until Lopez scored a kill for sideout, then spun two aces of her own in a 5-0 run for PCC's first lead since 3-2 at 19-17. Young landed two kills to capture the set for PCC.
After winning 14 straight sets going back to Sept. 24, the Mounties put an end to that streak with their 14-point win in the second set. PCC made 10 attack errors while Mt SAC outside hitter Riley DeGroot ripped five kills.
"I did not recognize our team in that set," Terrill said. "Mt. SAC is very talented and a well-coached group. Their serving was quite challenging and they have a lot of really good attackers."
In the third set, PCC took a 5-1 lead, but Mt. SAC kept it close the rest of the game. The Lancers broke the eighth different tie in the set at 21-20 with another Silva-to-Sanchez-Tellez combo kill. Silva put a kill down the line for the 2-point win.
Trailing 8-7 in the fourth set, Young served the Lancers during a 7-0 run with two aces while Silva scored two kills. PCC built that lead to 18-10, and even though Mt. SAC made one last push, a Silva scored match point on a kill from a set by SalasOrtiz.
"I'm so happy our players got to celebrate a victory in front of our home fans who were incredible!" Terrill said.
SalasOrtiz tallied 19 assists, Yoshioka made a team-high 15 digs, Pascua had 12 digs, and Lopez scored eight kills and five blocks. For Mt. SAC, Allison Whiteman scored 13 kills.
Pasadena, third in the state in ace average, had a season-high in service errors with 13, but did land eight aces.
PCC plays at unranked Long Beach City College on Friday, Oct. 22. Match time is 6 p.m.
OCTOBER 13--LANCERS 3, at EAST LOS ANGELES 0
Sabiya Esquivel scored nine kills, eight digs and served two aces in a 25-11, 25-14, 25-18 sweep over host East Los Angeles College last Friday. Kimberly Cruz added five kills, Leena Albelo had five digs, four assists and two aces, Lillian Sharman scored four kills in just eight attempts and no errors while Rylee DeSimone tallied seven assists, four digs and an ace.