Rustlers Roundup Riverside, 3-0, in Regular Season Finale for Both
RIVERSIDE -- Putting the lid on the regular season, the Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers women's volleyball squad lost, 3-0, to the visiting Golden West College (GWC) Rustlers in an Orange Empire Conference (OEC) match at historic Arthur N. Wheelock Gymnasium Wednesday evening (Nov. 19).
Golden West (18-5, 10-4 OEC) won by the set scores of 25-20, 25-19, 25-20. In the all-time series, GWC leads, 51-3, since entering the OEC for the 1988 season.
Frosh outside hitter Gabi Nguyen (Yorba Linda HS) led the Rustlers with a match-high 11 kills. Sophomore setter Andrea Gonzalez (Redondo Union HS) dished out a match-high 31 set assists and sophomore libero Kelynn Mullally (Huntington Beach HS) had a match-high 15 digs.
Riverside (6-17, 3-11 OEC) was co-led in kills by sophomore outside hitter Euricce LeSure (Redlands / Redlands '13) and Alexandra Webster (Temecula / Temecula Prep '13) with nine kills each. Frosh setter Melissa Moe (Riverside / Poly '14) had a team-high 15 set assists, followed closely by sophomore setter Sarah Kally (Riverside / John W. North '13) with 14 assists. Frosh libero Kristen Garcia-Simental (Riverside / La Sierra '12) had a team-high nine digs.
A total of 15 Tigers saw action in the final home match of the season.
Considering that Golden West is ranked ninth in the state, it was one of the Tigers' better matches of the season against a ranked opponent.
In the first set, GWC broke a 12-12 tie and opened an 18-13 lead, thanks to two attack errors, a service error and a ball-handling error by RCC. Webster had four kills in the opening frame.
The second set saw the Rustlers open an 11-4 lead before the Tigers closed to within, 16-14. LeSure had five kills in the game for RCC.
In the third set, the Rustlers led, 3-0, before RCC closed to within 11-10. Nguyen had five kills to aid the Rustlers' cause.
The Southern California Regional playoffs open on Tuesday, Nov. 25. GWC, one of five OEC teams ranked in the top ten, is expected to receive a postseason berth.
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