Riverside Sweeps Citrus, Loses to County Rival Mt. San Jacinto to Gain a Split Wednesday (Sept. 7)

RIVERSIDE -- Winning the nightcap match after losing the opening match of the day, the Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers women's volleyball team gained a split Wednesday (Sept. 7) at RCC's Fifth Annual Quadrangular Tournament, which was held at RCC's Catharine Huntley Gymnasium.

Riverside City (3-1) defeated the Citrus College Owls (0-8), 3-0, by the set scores of 25-22, 25-22, 25-22, after losing to the Mt. San Jacinto College (MSJC) Eagles, 3-1, by the set scores of 16-25, 25-19, 22-25, 16-25.

On the north court, the Mt. San Antonio College (MSAC) Mounties swept Citrus, 3-0, by the scores of 25-21, 25-19, 25-18, before dispatching MSJC (4-4 overall), 3-1, by the set scores of 25-17, 25-11, 22-25, 25-20,

In the opening loss to MSJC, in a nutshell, the Tigers had trouble getting untracked in the first set before opening with a 4-0 lead in the third set, thanks, in part, to three blocks.

Against MSJC, sophomore outside hitter Marissa Vialpando (Moreno Valley / Riverside - Notre Dame HS '15) led the Tigers with 11 kills and added 12 digs. Sophomore setter Sabrina Gonzaga (Perris / Citrus Hill '15) had a team-high 18 assists and frosh setter MacKenzie Lunney (Corona / Riverspring Charter HS '16) added 14 assists.

Additionally, RCC had six block solos and 12 block assists, led by frosh middle hitter Nicole McAllister (Riverside / Hillcrest HS '16), who had five block solos and one block assist, and sophomore middle hitter Tiarah McDaniel (Compton / Paramount HS '14 / Cerritos CC), who had one block solo and five block assists.

For MSJC, outside hitter Julia Balancier had a match-high 13 kills and Luann O'Kane added 12 kills and ten digs. Setter Camryn Bootsma had a match-high 35 assists and Jeannie Hifo had a team-high 15 digs.

Against Citrus, Vialpando led the Tigers with a match-high 12 kills and 11 digs. Gonzaga (who is pictured as a libero in 2015) had a match-high 35 assists. There was a dearth of blocking for RCC, which had only one block solo (McAllister) and two block assists.

For Citrus, Paige Madkin and Leah Price each had 11 kills and setter Moriah Gordon had 26 assists. Price (nine) and Madkin (eight) were the top two Owls in digs.

Riverside returns to action on Friday, Sept. 9, when it visits MSAC to face the College of the Desert Roadrunners in a 4 p.m. neutral-court match before facing the host MSAC Mounties at  6 p.m. 

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