Tigers Lose in Five Sets at No. 1-seeded Grossmont; NO. 18 seed Riverside Finishes 17-10

EL CAJON -- Extending the No. 1-seeded team to a five-set match, the Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers Women's Volleyball team saw its season come to an end with a 3-2 loss to the top-ranked Grossmont College Griffins Tuesday (Nov. 22) in a California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Southern California Regional Playoff match.

Riverside City, which finished 17-10 overall, was attempting to become the lowest seed to upset a No. 1 seed for only the second time in the 40-year history of the CCCAA regional playoffs. RCC was coming off a 3-2 win over the No. 15-seeded and host San Diego City College (SDCC) Knights (16-10 overall) in a play-in match last Saturday (Nov. 19). RCC won by the set scores of 22-25, 25-23, 25-23, 16-25, 15-12.

During the first round of the 2004 CCCAA regional postseason, the No. 16-seeded Cypress College Chargers upset the No. 1-seeded (and heretofore undefeated (17-0) El Camino College Warriors, 3-2, by the set scores of 30-26, 31-29, 22-30, 27-30, 15-12 (Nov. 23, 2004). Cypress then advanced to the then eight-team state tournament with a 3-1 win over fellow OEC member (and No. 8-seeded) Irvine Valley College. Thus, with a win at Grossmont Tuesday, No. 18-seeded Riverside would have been the lowest seed to knock off a No. 1 seed.

Grossmont (25-1 overall) won the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference (PCAC) - South Division title with a 10-0 record. Riverside finished fifth in the Orange Empire Conference (OEC) with a 10-6 mark.

Against the top-seeded Griffins, the Tigers lost by the set scores of 25-23, 23-25, 25-21, 20-15, 9-15.

Riverside had faced Grossmont this season, coming out on the short end of a 3-1 verdict by the set scores of 15-25, 26-28, 25-18, 23-25 on Saturday, Sept. 24 as part of a three-way appearance with Southwestern College at Grossmont.

In the first on Tuesday, Riverside showed it wasn't going to go away quietly as it hit .375 (15 kills, 40 attack attempts). RCC sophomore outside hitter Marissa Vialpando (Moreno Valley / Riverside – Notre Dame HS '15) had seven of her team-high 17 kills in the opening stanza.

The Tigers hit well in the second (.333 on ten kills) and third (.229 on 12 kills) sets, but the Griffins showed why they were ranked No. 1 as they forced Riverside to hit only .100 (ten kills, seven errors) in the fourth set and minus-.222 (two kills, six errors) in the fifth and final set.

Additionally, Riverside sophomore outside hitter Lauren Wells (Corona / Woodcrest Christian HS '15) chipped in with 11 kills and 12 digs.

Sophomore setter Sabrina Gonzaga (Moreno Valley / Citrus Hill HS '14) had a team-high 41 set assists and frosh libero Paula Romero (Riverside / Riverside Poly HS '14) had a team-high 20 digs.

RCC ninth-year head women's volleyball coach Monica Hayes-Trainer finishes the 2016 season with an overall record is 118-107.

Hayes-Trainer finished her fourth postseason appearance as RCC's mentor. In 2008, No. 9-seeded RCC lost, 3-2, at No. 8 Bakersfield. In 2010, No. 9-seeded RCC lost, 3-0, at fellow OEC opponent (and No. 8-seeded) Irvine Valley. In 2015, No. 15-seeded RCC defeated No. 18 seed Chaffey College before losing, 3-0, at No. 2 seed Los Angeles Pierce College.

Continuing with Riverside's playoff history, RCC is 3-12 in regional playoff action, the first 11 decisions were all on the road. The Tigers' first playoff victory was in 2001 (Nov. 20) when, as a No. 11 seed, they shocked host (No. 6 seed) Long Beach City College, 3-1. The Tigers' second playoff win in their history came last season against Chaffey.

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This season's ten OEC wins set a RCC program record, eclipsing the 9-3 marks posted by the 1988 and 1990 squads. The OEC begam with the 1986 season. All-time conference victory totals posted by RCC squads occured when the Tigers competed in the Inland Valley Conference (14 in 1982 and 12 in 1985.

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Editor's note: Through 27 matches (99 sets), Vialpando (97 sets) led the Tigers in kills (337) by a wide margin. Wells (89 sets) is next with 266 kills. Romero (96 sets) leads with 366 digs, followed by Vialpando (316) and Wells (283).

Gonzaga (89 sets) led with 691 set assists and finished with 226 digs. Frosh middle hitter Nicole McAllister (Riverside / Hillcrest HS '16) and sophomore middle hitter Tiarah McDaniel (Compton / Paramount HS '14 / Cerritos CC) each finished with 58 total blocks. McAllister has 22 solo blocks and McDaniel has 19 solo blocks.

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