The #16-ranked Pasadena City College women's volleyball team is finding that being part of one of the strongest seasons in South Coast Conference history both a challenge and a curse. The Lancers have had a tough time on the road in SCC play, and Wednesday's 3-set loss at #17 Mt. San Antonio was the low point for the squad.
PCC is 11-6 overall, and now 4-3 in conference play. The Lancers have played a majority of those contests on the road where they are 3-3, including a hard 5-set struggle to beat #T24 Cerritos, a 4-set loss v. #15 Rio Hondo that featured several leads squandered, and last Friday's inspired but losing effort v. still undefeated and #8 Long Beach City College, 24-26, 25-21, 25-22, 28-30, 16-14.
That match was supposed to be a step in the right direction, but the Mt. SAC defeat has head coach Mike Terrill and his assistant coaching staff now working in overdrive to push the team forward again.
Against the Mounties (9-7, 3-3), the Lancers were swept, 25-13, 25-14, 25-21. In the first set, PCC fell behind 9-3 and never recovered. In set #2, Mt. SAC rattled off a 10-1 run, led 19-5, and closed it out on a Melissa Povich kill.
In the third, PCC jumped ahead, 5-1, but a 4-0 serving run by Andrea Brewer was part of a 9-2 run to erase the Lancers advantage. Trailing 15-9, Pasadena had its best stretch of the match as sophomore outside hitter Emma Yogan landed three kills and helped PCC knot things at 16-16. Again, the Mounties pulled away and closed out the sweep on a Leia Campbell kill.
Pasadena made 34 unforced errors (26 on the attack) and only Yogan (seven kills), frosh middle blocker Itzel Aguayo (two kills, three blocks), and sophomore libero Makayla Chiechi (10 digs) had any significant individual statistics.
"It was a disappointing effort especially after how well we played v. Long Beach," Terrill said. "We're a few critical moments in that match from pulling out a big win. Here, we just didn't give Mt. SAC our best version of ourselves. The last two seasons we have had letdowns in our matches at both Mt. SAC and Rio Hondo (0-4 combined). This is a great year for the South Coast and that means most of our matches will be battles. We have a large sophomore group that has to step up from this point forward."
Against LBCC, one of just two undefeated teams left in the state with the other being #1 San Joaquin Delta, PCC had a breakout performance by freshman hitter Katie Carius, who ripped 22 kills and hit .526 with just two errors in 38 attempts. Sophomore middle blocker Ashley Gilbert added 11 kills, five digs and four blocks while letterman OH Reese Roper contributed 10 kills and 15 digs.
Second-year setter Lindsay Delgadillo dished out 50 assists and made 19 digs while Chiechi recorded 27 digs. Yogan was limited to eight kills, but tallied 15 digs. Defensive specialist Kamea Vongfak added two aces and eight digs and returning opposite Kyley Chang made five kills.
The Lancers take a bye on Friday before beginning 3-match homestand at Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium on Wednesday, Oct. 11 when they finish the first round of SCC play v. El Camino College (6 p.m. first serve).
PCC has won five straight at home, including a 4-set win over then #9 and now #20 East Los Angeles. Currently, Long Beach and Rio Hondo are tied for first in the SCC at 6-0 each.
