Volleyballers Get Swept, 3-0, by Defending State Champion Irvine Valley Friday Night (Oct. 9)

RIVERSIDE -- Losing its third consecutive Orange Empire Conference (OEC) match, the Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers Women's Volleyball team was swept by the defending state champion (and visiting) Irvine Valley College (IVC) Lasers, 3-0, Friday night (Oct. 9), by the set scores of 25-15, 25-23, 25-15.

Riverside (7-4 overall, 0-3 OEC) -- ranked No. 25 in the state -- saw the No. 14-ranked Lasers break a 1-1 tie and build leads of 6-1, 12-5, and 18-6, and were never headed. IVC hit .385 (13 kills, 3 attack errors) as Kayla Scheevel and Kayla Shields each record four kills. RCC hit -.071 (eight kills, ten attack errors) as frosh middle blocker Nyomi Ward (Moreno Valley / Rancho Verde HS '14) had four kills for the Tigers.

In the second set, RCC sprinted to leads of 6-0, 7-1, and 17-7, before Irvine Valley (6-3 overall, 3-0 OEC) regrouped and caught the Tigers at 23-23, before claiming a 25-23 win. Hailey Riden, Hannah Matt and Brittany Tuliau each had four kills. Trailing, 23-18, IVC's Tuliau had four kills and setter Jenna Olbright capped the comeback with a kill. Frosh middle blocker Lauren Reed (Redlands / Redlands HS / Cal Baptist '15) had four kills for RCC.

In the third set, which featured six tie scores and three lead changes, RCC closed to within 11-10, before the Lasers reeled off 11 straight points, thanks, in part, to five kills by Olivia Aguilar. Scheevel had the final kill to secure the set and the match.

For RCC, Ward led the Tigers with eight kills, three block solos and two block assists. RCC sophomore setter Melissa Moe (Riverside / Poly HS '14) had a team-high 17 assists. Sophomore outside hitter Amanda Barker (Lake Arrowhead / Rim of the World HS '14) led the Tigers with eight digs.

Irvine Valley was led in kills by Scheevel and Shields with ten kills each. Setter Olbright had a match-high 34 assists and libero Emily Reinking had a match-high 19 digs.

Riverside's next match will be on Wedesday, Oct. 14, when it visits the Saddleback College Gauchos in an OEC match beginning at 6 p.m.

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Through 11 matches (37 sets), frosh outside hitter Lauren Wells (Riverside / Woodcrest Christian HS '15) continues to lead Riverside in kills (109, 3.11 average per set) by a wide margin. Barker is next in kills (61, 1.74 avg.). Moe leads the Tigers in assists (315, 8.51 avg.) and frosh libero Sabrina Gonzaga (Perris / Citrus Hill HS '14) leads in digs (142, 3.84 avg.)

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