Tigers Avenge Loss to Saddleback, Defeat Gauchos, 3-1, Await Playoff Call Thursday

RIVERSIDE -- Avenging a loss which occured last week, the host Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers women's volleyball team defeated the visiting Saddleback College Gauchos, 3-1, by the set scores of 26-24, 25-17, 13-25, 25-8, in an Orange Empire Conference (OEC) match Wednesday evening (Nov. 16) at legendary Arthur N. Wheelock Gymnasium.

Last Saturday (Nov. 12), in a previously protested (by RCC) match, Saddleback prevailed, 3-1.

Wednesday's match had a combined 305 attack attempts (161 by Saddleback, 144 by Riverside) and 144 digs (68 by Saddleback, 76 by Riverside) as both teams' quests for playoff berths were hanging in the balance.

The first set saw Riverside City (16-9 overall, 10-6 in OEC, fifth place) post leads of 10-6, 13-7 and 16-8, only to the Gauchos forge a 19-19 tie. After ties at 20, 21 and 24, a kill by sophomore outside hitter Huafa Saulala (Morgan Hill / Live Oak HS '13 / BYU-Hawai'i) and a Saddleback set error enabled RCC to win, 26-24.

The second set also saw the Tigers forge good-sized leads of 14-9, 18-12 and 23-15 before winning, 25-17.

The third and fourth sets had no ties or lead changes as Saddleback won, 25-13, before Riverside closed out the match with a 25-8 win.

RCC sophomore outside hitter Marissa Vialpando (Moreno Valley / Riverside – Notre Dame HS '15) had a team-high 14  kills and added 11 digs, while sophomore outside hitter Lauren Wells (Corona / Woodcrest Christian HS '15) added 12 kills and 18 digs

Sophomore setter Sabrina Gonzaga (Moreno Valley / Citrus Hill HS '14) had a team-high 31 set assists and frosh libero Paula Romero (Riverside / Riverside Poly HS '14) had a match- and season-high 25 digs.

For Saddleback (16-8 overall, 12-4 OEC tied for second), frosh outside hitter Mandy Sides (Whittier Christian HS) had a match-high 17 kills and team-high 17 digs. Frosh setter Marina Torres (Vista Murrieta HS) had a match-high 34 set assists and frosh libero Morgan Hocker (El Toro HS) had 14 digs.

"That was Paula's (Romero) best match of the season," said RCC ninth-year head volleyball coach Monica Hayes-Trainer. 

This season's regional seeding meeting to determine playoff berth recipients will be held tomorrow, Thursday, Nov. 17, at 10 a.m. Riverside is currently unranked in the latest (Nov. 14) California Community College Women's Volleyball Coaches Association (CCCWVCA) poll.

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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 25 regular season matches (89 sets), Vialpando (87 sets) continues to lead the Tigers in kills (305) by a wide margin. Wells (79 sets) is next with 239 kills. Romero (86 sets) leads with 335 digs, followed by Vialpando (287) and Wells (253).

Gonzaga (79 sets) leads with 608 set assists and has 189 digs. Frosh middle hitter Nicole McAllister (Riverside / Hillcrest HS '16) and sophomore middle hitter Tiarah McDaniel (Compton / Paramount HS '14 / Cerritos CC) each have 55 total blocks. McAllister has 21 solo blocks and McDaniel has 19 solo blocks.

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