Often brought in at the same time as a pair in situational subbing this season, freshman setter JanetMarie Reyes and sophomore opposite Mahrie Bedjakian got a chance to start on Friday. Both took advantage of the opportunity as they helped the state #9 Pasadena City College women's volleyball team sweep Irvine Valley, 25-11, 25-19, 25-19, at Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium.
PCC upped its record to 7-3 and now a sparkling 6-1 at "The Patt."
The team's tiniest player at 5-foot-2, Reyes dished out 13 assists, dropped in two kills on dump plays that ended long rallies, made six digs and started a number of PCC scoring runs with her serve, including three aces. Bedjakian was solid at the net and delivered six kills (hit .308) and totaled three block assists.
Other cogs in the Lancers machine were frosh defensive specialist Jayleen Almaraz, who had a match-high 12 digs plus, an ace and three sets for points, first-year setter Julianna Wilson, who made 10 assists and eight digs, and letterman middle blocker Machijah Harville, who started and blocked four IVC attempts for points.
The power swing of freshman outside hitter Payton Scott was evident as she blasted 11 kills, hitting .500 with two blocks while sophomore middle blocker Savannah Curtis added four kills and four blocks. High-energy starting outside hitter Bobbie Torres chipped in seven kills, four digs and two aces and steady second-year libero Juyeon Lee contributed 10 digs and set six points.
Frosh opposite Izzy Taylor tacked on four kills while freshman setter Arpa Khechadoorian became the 20th different Lancer to play in a match with her collegiate debut during the third set. Frosh hitters Diana Magallon and Leah Millage, landed a kill each.
Reyes twirled two aces in an 8-0 serving run that put away set #1. Almaraz earlier served a 5-0 spurt that featured three booming kills by Scott. PCC jumped ahead 12-4 in the second set and finished the win there with an ace by Almaraz and a kill by Taylor.
In the third, the Lasers (0-5 overall, but playing an extremely tough early non-conference schedule) pushed back, taking a brief 17-16 lead. A Bedjakian rifle kill and an ace by Torres got PCC back in front as they finished the sweep.
Coach Mike Terrill's squad next plays at Chaffey College on Wednesday, Sept. 17 in a 6 p.m. first serve.
