The Falcons finished in second place in the 2010 Cuyamaca Volleyball Tournament after losing in two games, the first with a score of 16-25 and the second at 14-25, to Arizona’s Yavapai College in the finals.

     “Playing Yavapai was good for our players because we now know how we match up against bigger teams. We have to keep working on our blocking, and defense,” Head Coach Teresa Velasquez-Ortega said.

     Yavapai College, a Div-I community college, went 4-0 on the day. Sophomore outside hitter Haley Shackelford of Yavapai College was named the tournament’s most valuable player, with 38 kills, two aces, one block, and 19 digs.    

    Both Shackelford, and teammate Natasha Ray were both named to the All-Tournament team.   

     The Falcons had an All-Tournament player as well.  Freshman setter Jessika Suesoff made the team after posting eight assists in the finals. Sophomore Chanelle Puou led the team with four kills in the finals, bringing her season total to 40 wins.

The team had a 5-3 tournament record. The Falcons opened pool play with three wins against San Diego City College, scoring 25-18, 21-25 and 17-15, and two games over Cuyamaca, scoring 25-15 and 25-20. The bitter defeat came from Mt. San Jacinto with the Falcons losing three games at 25-20, 25-22 and 15-12. “We played a good tournament. We tried to rotate everyone in and let everyone play to get experience,” Says Velasquez-Ortega. This was evident in the loss to Mt. San Jacinto, when 11 players scored at least one kill.

The Falcons will travel to Fullerton today to take on the Hornets, who are coming off of a big win after sweeping Palomar College.

     “The [Fullerton] game will be a good one. It will be challenging but we will continue to work on our serve-receive [drill].” Says Velazquez-Ortega.