Volleyballers Take No. 8-Ranked Cypress to Five Sets, But Lose, 3-2
RIVERSIDE -- Coming "ascloseasthis" to pulling off an upset, the Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers Women's Volleyball team extended the No. 8-ranked Cypress College Chargers to five sets before bowing, 3-2, in an Orange Empire Conference (OEC) match Friday night (Oct. 16), by the set scores of 24-26, 22-25, 25-19, 25-15, 11-15, at legendary Arthur N. Wheelock Gymnasium.
If Riverside (8-5 overall, 1-4 OEC) needs to look for a turning point in the match, it needs to look no further than the first set when it led, 20-17, fell behind, then forged a 24-24 tie before losing, 26-24. RCC hit only .103 (nine kills, five errors), compared to Cypress (.227, 18 kills, eight errors).
During the second set, the Tigers showed a lot of heart and did so for the rest of the match. Trailing, 24-14, RCC closed to within 24-22, before Cypress prevailed, 25-22.
In the third set, RCC broke an 11-11 tie, built a 20-14 lead and went on to win, 25-19. In the fourth set, RCC extended a 9-8 lead to 12-8, 18-11, and 21-13 before posting a 25-15 win and forcing a fifth and final set. RCC hit .306 (14 kills, three errors) in the third set and hit .400 (17 kills, three errors) in the fourth set.
RCC frosh outside hitter Lauren Wells (Riverside / Woodcrest Christian HS '15) led with a match-high 23 kills and hit .426 (three errors, 47 attempts). Frosh middle blocker Lauren Reed (Redlands / Redlands HS / Cal Baptist '15) was next with 11 kills for RCC.
RCC sophomore setter Melissa Moe (Riverside / Poly HS '14) had a team-high 50 assists and added 15 digs, and frosh libero Sabrina Gonzaga (Perris / Citrus Hill HS '14) had a team-high 18 digs.
For Cypress (14-5 overall, 5-0 in OEC), sophomore outside hitter Madison May (Los Alamitos HS) led the Chargers with a match-high 21 kills, as well as 18 digs, and frosh outside hitter Rockelle Gholson (Western HS) chipped in with 17 kills. Sophomore setter Pamela Fa'Alata (Lakewood HS) dished out a match-high 58 assists and frosh outside hitter Raquel Medina (California HS) brought up a match-high 21 digs.
Both teams will continue OEC action next Wednesday, Oct. 21, as Cypress will host the Irvine Valley Lasers and Riverside will host the Orange Coast College Pirates in a pair of 6 p.m. matches.
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Through 13 matches (45 sets), Wells continues to lead Riverside in kills (140) by a wide margin. Reed is next in kills (78, 29 sets). Moe leads the Tigers in assists (393, 45 sets), co-leads in service aces (25) and is second in digs (115). Gonzaga leads in digs (168, 45 sets) and also co-leads in service aces (25).
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