Tigers Outlast Santa Ana, 3-1, Wednesday; Visit Newcomer Santiago Canyon Friday

RIVERSIDE -- Facing a vastly improved opponent, the Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers women's volleyball team outlasted the visiting Santa Ana College (SAC) Dons, 3-1, in an Orange Empire Conference (OEC) match Wednesday evening (Sept. 21) at RCC's historic Arthur N. Wheelock Gymnasium.

Riverside City (7-2, 2-0 OEC) defeated the Dons by the set scores of 25-11, 23-25, 25-22, 25-9, but was in quite a battle throughout the match as Santa Ana had 1-0 leads in each of the first three sets.

In the first set, RCC led, 3-1, 6-2, and 10-7, before cruising to a 25-11 win. Sophomore outside hitter Lauren Wells (Corona / Woodcrest Christian HS '15) nailed a kill to end the set.

In the second set, Santa Ana (5-3, 0-2 OEC) came alive. The Dons broke a 20-20 tie thanks to frosh Mikelle Taylor (Valencia HS) who sandwiched a kill (for point No. 21) and a service ace (for point No. 23) around a set error by RCC sophomore setter Sabrina Gonzaga (Perris / Citrus Hill HS '14). Kills by sophomore outside hitter Viridiana Serrano for points Nos. 24 and 25 won the set for SAC, 25-23.

The third set saw Riverside fall behind, 2-7, and 10-15, before the Tigers rallied to tie the set at 21. A service ace by frosh libero Paula Romero (Riverside / Poly HS '14) and a kill by Wells helped RCC to a 25-22 win.

The fourth set saw the Tigers jump out to leads of 6-0, 11-1, and 16-4, before cruising to the 25-9 win.

In the all-time series, Riverside leads, 55-6, and has won 18 in a row against Santa Ana.

Wells had a team-high 15 kills and team-high 15 digs, Gonzaga had a match-high 40 set assists and Gonzaga added 12 digs. RCC frosh middle hitter Nicole McAllister (Riverside / HIllcrest HS '16) had five total blocks (two solo) and sophomore Tiarah McDaniel (Compton / Paramount HS '14) added four blocks (two solo).

For Santa Ana, Serrano had a match-high 16 kills and match-high 17 digs. Sophomore setter Haylie Slater (Valencia HS) had a team-high 33 assists. Taylor had a co-match-high three service aces.

Both teams return to OEC action on Friday, Sept. 23, at 6 p.m. when Santa Ana hosts Saddleback and Riverside visits the Santiago Canyon College (SCC) Hawks who are fielding their inaugural volleyball team.

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