The state #17-ranked Pasadena City College women's volleyball team completed a bumpy ending to the South Coast Conference and regular season schedule, losing in four sets to #14 Mt. San Antonio on Nov. 3, then unceremoniously swept by unranked and seventh-place El Camino on Nov. 10.
While PCC finished in a 3-way tie for second place in the SCC with Mt. SAC and Long Beach City all at 11-5, the Lancers lose the tiebreakers as the #4 team that help determine seeding for teams that advance to the Southern California Regional Playoffs. The Lancers RPI was at one point as high as #6 and now has dropped to #11 (some matches still to be played in the region on Tuesday) and current #14 LBCC will be seeded ahead of them as well.
The ripple effect of the final loss to ECC could result in PCC dropping into the Play-In Round to be played this Saturday, Nov. 18 for seeds #13 to 20. With the seeding meeting to take place this Thursday, the Lancers either could be a #12 seed and then skip the first round to play at the #5 seed on Tuesday, Nov. 21 or they can be a #13 or #14 seed and host a playoff match on Saturday.
"While we feel in our heart of hearts that we should be a top 8 seed easily, the fact remains we brought this on ourselves," said PCC head coach Mike Terrill. "We deserve the lower seed that we will receive because we didn't do what we needed to secure second place outright and let an opportunity to have a higher win percentage get away. The playoffs are a new season though. We have a chance to make this still work for us by playing better volleyball."
Against Mt. SAC, the Lancers were beaten for the second time this season v. the Mounties (25-22, 25-16, 21-25, 25-15) and the defeat ended both PCC's 10-match home winning streak on Sophomore Night at Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium and a 7-match win string overall.
In that loss, Emma Yogan scored 10 kills, Kyley Chang had seven kills, and Ashley Marrone tallied four kills, seven digs and two aces off the bench. Itzel Aguayo added two kills and three block assisis while defensively Makayla Chiechi notched 12 digs and Reese Roper 10 digs. Kamea Vongfak delivered seven digs, seven set assists and served two aces.
Andrea Brewer pounded 16 kills as the Mounties won the match with stronger play at the net and from the Mounties middles.
In the conference finale, Pasadena had set point in the opening game at 24-22, but let it slip away as El Camino (5-18, 5-11 in conference) scored their biggest win of the year, 27-25, 25-17, 25-19. PCC swept the Warriors, 25-20, 25-7, 25-21, back on Oct. 11. A month later, ECC returned the favor with a sweep back at the visiting Lancers.
Marrone had a big match with 11 kills in 23 attempts (hit .435), Yogan had eight kills and nine digs, while Gilbert also landed eight kills. Lindsay Delgadillo totaled 21 set assists and three aces, Chiechi 11 digs and four assists, and Shaylee Ungos had seven assists, two kills and an ace. Chang scored five kills, Chayse Hoon picked up a kill and two blocks, and Roper had seven digs.
El Camino had a decisive edge in digs, 67-41, and outserved PCC in aces, 10-5.
Delgadillo, a sophomore setter, passed the 1,000 dig milestone in her career (1,004). Letterman outside hitter Yogan raised her second, all-time PCC kills career mark to 585, and sophomore setter Chiechi is 12 digs shy of reaching 600 digs in her career.
The Lancers Sophomores were honored last Wednesday, from left: Ashley Gilbert, Emma Yogan, Reese Roper, Lindsay Delgadillo, Makayla Chiechi, Kyley Chang, Ariana Pedroza, Karmen Turner and Ashley Marrone.
