Women’s Volleyball Honor Sophomores for Final Home Match

The Riverside City College women's volleyball team capped its home schedule on Wednesday night by competing against the Saddleback College Bobcats in Orange Empire Conference (OEC) play. The Tigers jumped out to an early lead, but the Bobcats clawed their way back and outlasted RCC in a five-set thriller.

Prior to the contest, Riverside honored six sophomores that included Maggie Aburto, Jessica Lepe, Chloe Christelman, Mya Castro, Kayla Brown and Alyssa Riddle.

The Tigers got off to a strong start in the first set by defeating Saddleback, 25-19. Aburto, who surpassed 200 kills in both season as a Tiger, led the way with six kills. However, Riverside followed by dropping the following two sets highlighted by a two-point difference in the second set. They rebounded in the fourth set to force a deciding fifth set.

The fifth set was a tight back and forth affair as Riverside held an early 6-5 lead after a kill from sophomore Jessica Lepe. However, Saddleback went on to tie the game up at 10-all and ended the game on a 5-2 run to snag the win.

Aburto led the team with 17 kills on a game-high 51 swings. She added 11 digs, six aces and two blocks as well. It was her third consecutive game with double-digit kills and 15^th of the season. Additionally, she was responsible for 24 points.

Lepe was efficient leading to 11 kills and a .212 hitting percentage. She led the team with 15 digs while adding a block. Freshman Nina Peay had a strong night with nine kills and five services aces. It was one of the few nights she dropped back to served and successfully proved her worth in that role.

Freshman Audrey Elias continued to run the offense in an effective was by earning 38 assists, seven digs and a game-high four blocks.