Cerritos volleyball has been on a roll as of late, beating Fullerton College on Sept. 23 at home, going to Long Beach City College and beating the Vikings and then sweeping LA Trade Tech Monday night to open up conference play, 2-0.
Coach Teresa Ortega felt that her first team started the Long Beach a bit slow but the second team came in a proved it could play.
The Falcons have been getting consistent contributions from their freshman Chanelle Puou, who had a career high 25 kills against Fullerton.
That does not come as a surprise however for Ortega.
She stated before the Fullerton game that she expected big things from Puou, as well as a few of her returners.
Those returners have been just a big for the Falcons as Puou has been.
Sophomore Sarah Naranjo finished the Fullerton game with 14 kills and had a successful defensive night with 12 digs.
Naranjo also played well against Long Beach with 11 kills and 9 digs and Puou had 14 kills against the crosstown rivals.
The kind of season that Ortega has envisioned is looking to be just that so far, “last season was a rebuilding year for us with the youth we had.”
The previous season, Cerritos volleyball was young and inexperienced, lacking the ability to stay in games late and finish games strong.
The team would start out games aggressive and confident but would fold during the final games.
Another valuble returner for Falcons volleyball has been Monique Gayton who played for Cerritos Volleyball in 2003.
She has been a positive re-addition for the team with her kills at the end of games and assist totals.
Gayton recorded 51 assists and 7 digs defensively in the Fullerton game and she also provided a spark for the Falcons with a kill in the final game against Long Beach.
In the previous game against LA Trade Tech, the Falcons did not even have to play the majority of their starters as they completed the sweep.
In the course of the beginning of the season, Cerritos has proven to be strong at all positions and have improved in a major way from last season.
However, Cerritos volleyball will face a true test at home Sept. 29 against El Camino, which is a two time state championship program.
