The Cerritos College women’s volleyball team played against Long Beach on October 14 at 6 p.m.
The Cerritos team managed to win 3-0 totaling 23-25, 15-25 and 14-25.
Within the first game set, both teams were neck and neck with each team going on small runs throughout the set.
The top scorers for Cerritos were Kaydence Portillo No. 15 (Soph) Middle Blocker, who had four kills that half while both Aiyana Sierra No. 13 (Soph) Middle Blocker and Sonye Garcia No. 17 (Soph) Outside Hitter each have three kills.
Breanna Lizarraga #4 closed off the game with a service ace shot as Cerritos won the first set, 23-25.
The second set of the game wasn’t so lucky for Long Beach as the Falcons go on huge runs.
In the first half of the game, they were neck and neck with the closet tie being 10-10, Long Beach was never fully able to catch up with Cerritos.
Long Beach initially had an 8-6 run at the beginning of the second set, but the Falcons went on a 12-3 run and a 7-4 run respectively.
Sierra has five kills and a block during the second set, helping the Falcons to continue their dominance against Long Beach.
The Falcons scored 10 kills with a kill percentage of 35% while Long Beach only had a kill percentage of 28%.
Abby Guiterrez No. 22 (Soph) Outside Hitter) was able to deliver the final kill, resulting in Cerritos winning the second set 25-15.
The third and last set was more of the same as Long Beach was never able to keep up in the end.
Just like the last set, Long Beach was leading 7-6 but the Falcons went on an 11-1 run to cruise to another decisive victory.
The Falcons had only two errors that set while Long Beach had 11 errors, which led to the huge run.
Cerritos won with the final score of 3-0; making it their third win of the season.
Speaking with head coach Kari Hemmerling, she explains that she knew that the team could win but mainly had a tough time winning games due to tough matches.
They initially had a tough time believing the system they have in place works.
“A couple of times in a row and so it’s building their confidence and now they’re playing smoother, better because they are getting the result in the end,” Hemmerling said, “They now seen it work.”
She laments that because the team now sees that the system they have in place is working, the team is now on the page and they’re improving alongside each other.
Kira Magdaleno #30, Outside Hitter (Frosh), explains what improvements she’s made over the past season.
“Personally I think my serve receive has improved a lot,” Magdaleno said, “[It] just making sure that I’m hitting the right areas and just focusing on just being patient the whole time.”
Falcons’ volleyball looks to continue their winning ways as they play a division game at home against East Los Angeles on Oct. 19 at 6 p.m.
