Women’s Volleyball Duo Earns OEC All-Conference Recognition

The Riverside City College women's volleyball team concluded its 2017 campaign on Wednesday night by defeating the Fullerton College Hornets via sweep. Following the season finale, a pair of Tigers were named to the Orange Empire Conference (OEC) All-Conference teams. Freshman libero Natalie Escher (Redlands, CA) was named to the first-team list, while sophomore outside hitter Marcella Rodriguez (Belize City, Belize) hauled in second-team accolades.

Escher patrolled the backline for Riverside throughout the entire season by playing in all but one contest. She landed in double-digit digs 19 times on the season highlighted by a whopping 39 digs in a four-set win over Victor Valley. She recorded 20 or more digs in six contest as well. She finished the season with 384 total digs which ranked second in the OEC. Furthermore, she ranked second in the conference in digs-per-set with 4.47. She chipped in 23 services aces and 27 assists as well.

Rodriguez paced Riverside in kills with 191 to land her in the top-10 in conference. She boasted a 2.69 kills-per-set mark which also ranked in the top-10. She recorded at least three kills in every contest she played while landing in double-digit kills 10 times on the year. The red shirt freshman hammered home a season-high 17 kills in a five-set victory over Santiago Canyon. Additionally, she was money on the defensive line while recording 201 digs which ranked second on the squad.