Photo by Cassandra Serrano
Photo by Cassandra Serrano

Volleyball Drops Two at MSJC Classic

The Riverside City College indoor volleyball team hit the road on Wednesday afternoon to participate in the Mt. San Jacinto Classic featuring matches against host MSJC and LA Mission. The Tigers dropped each match in four sets leading to their second and third consecutive losses.

The opening match against Mt. San Jacinto was close after the Tigers took the first set, 25-17. However, Riverside experienced déjà vu as they dropped the next three sets by a slim margin; the final two sets by a two-point margin.

Freshman Nina Peay paced the club for the first time this season as she hammered home a team-leading 12 kills on 23 attempts (.437 kill percentage). She was one kill off her career-high as she marked her second-consecutive game with 12 kills. She was effective at the net as seen in one solo stuff and five block assists.

Running the offense once again was freshman Audrey Elias as she lofted up 35 assists for the second-consecutive contest. She was money from the service line leading to six aces.

Sophomore Jessica Lepe led the team with 29 attempts and found the hardwood nine times, while freshman Lanah Bergen fired home eight kills on 21 attempts. The two each had seven digs as well.

Sophomore Mya Castro led the team with nine digs and recorded three assists as well.

Riverside was able to fix their second-set woes by earning a 25-10 victory, but it was not enough after dropping the first set followed by the third and fourth sets.

Sophomore Maggie Aburto and Peay each recorded 12 kills which tied for Riverside's match high. Peay led the way with a career-high 30 swings, while Aburto followed with 26.

Castro was a digging machine as she finished with a team-high 16 digs, while Bergen followed with eight. Lepe rounded out the offensive highlights with six kills and recorded 15.5 points.

Sophomore Montana Gibson was a brick wall at the net with five total block assists, while Peay matched her at five as well.

Elias recorded 35 assist to pace the squad. She has recorded at least 20 assist in each start this season.