Yogan with her golden ball prior to match
After a pre-match ceremony where the coaching staff presented a golden ball commemorating her milestone of 500 kills accomplished in her Lancers career, outside hitter Emma Yogan continued to add to her total as she pounded 17 kills in a South Coast Conference sweep over Cerritos, 25-13, 25-17, 25-20, at Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium Wednesday night.
Yogan scored eight kills in the first set alone and at the conclusion of the contest, had reached the 549 kills mark in her career, placing her No. 2 on the all-time Lancers kills list. Nora To'omalatai (2012-2013, note link shows her 2013 stats only) holds the #1 spot with 668.
The state #18 Lancers are 16-6 overall, 9-3 in third place in the SCC, and extended their home winning streak to nine matches.
"Emma is such a talented hitter who does a number of things well, including her defense and serve," said PCC head coach Mike Terrill. "I'm glad we could honor her and she has a shot at 600 kills, so we will see how things go from here. From a team aspect, our serve and pass was about as good as we've been throughout one match v. a strong Cerritos squad."
Opposite Kyley Chang came off the bench to power nine kills in 13 swings (hit .462) and she added a team-high four block assists. OH Reese Roper added six kills (12 attempts, no errors, .500), four of the team's 11 aces, and a team-best 13 digs.
"Kyley has had her moments of big plays for us in various matches. Tonight, she really stepped up and showed the type of powerful swing and good block that she can provide for us a returning sophomore. Can't say enough about Reese, who is a warrior. She dives for everything, she has made some incredible defensive plays to keep rallies going, and when she is called on to take the swing, she let's it rip.
"We are lucky to have a sophomore group that includes setter Lindsay Delgadillo, middle blockers Ashley Gilbert and Ariana Pedroza, libero Makayla Chiechi, and reserve players like Ashley Marrone and Karmen Turner who have all performed with a veteran influence for the rest of the team. Our freshmen have been on a learning curve with Kamea Vongfak been the most consistent of that group thus allowing her a starting role for us at defensive specialist. She is one of our better servers too."
Vongfak tallied two aces and four digs, Gilbert scored three kills with two blocks, Delgadillo dished out 35 assists with two aces and seven digs, Pedroza had three kills and two blocks, and Chiechi made 11 digs. Yogan served two aces and had nine digs as her 19 team points led all scorers.
PCC hit .322 as a team and while Cerritos (9-7, 4-7 in SCC) may have been swept, it didn't prevent the Falcons from pushing PCC into a number of long rallies. The defensive play of Roper, Chiechi, and Yogan in particular kept the volley PCC's way all match.
The Lancers next play at winless Los Angeles City College on Friday, Oct. 27 in a 6 p.m. conference contest.
