The Cerritos College volleyball team lost their one game lead overEl Camino for first place in the South Coast Conference after the Warriors posted a 30-24, 34-36, 26-30, 21-30 win over the Falcons last week.

However, things didn’t get any easier for the Falcons, as they had to come back from a 2-1 deficit against Pasadena City.

The Falcons fought back for a 22-30, 30-25, 18-30, 30-21, 15-10 win to improve their record to 10-6 overall and 10-1 in SCC play.

There are only three conference matches remaining, with the Falcons traveling to Los Angeles City on Wednesday for a 7:00 p.m. match before returning home for a 7:30 p.m. contest against Mt. San Antonio on Friday.

In the five-set win over the Lancers, the Falcons received a very balanced attack, as sophomore Tiffany Tolentino (Norwalk) led the team with 16 kills, while freshman Sindy Mendez (Mexico) followed with 15 kills.

The trio of Mendez, sophomore Vanessa Cid (Montebello) and freshman Kim Robles (Alhambra) controlled the net, as they recorded four blocks each.

Freshman setter Patty Romero (Warren) dished off 33 assists, while sophomore Crisol Mendoza (Gahr) stepped in and chipped in with 15 assists.

In the fifth and deciding game, Mendez stepped up her performance, as she accounted for four kills in the game.

In the loss to the Warriors, Cerritos broke an 8-8 tie by scoring 15 of the next 19 points, with Mendez accounting for four of the points.

The Warriors tried to make a comeback, and closed the game to 28-23, but sophomore Suzie Liufau (Loara) and Tolentino scored the final points to put the game away.

The crucial game of the match was the second, as El Camino overcame three Falcon game points to post a 36-34 win. Cerritos fell behind early and trailed the entire match.

At one point, ECC was holding a 25-17 lead, but several Warrior errors and stellar play from Cid, Mendez, Romero and sophomore April Turner (Cypress) helped the Falcons tie the game at 26-26 and even led, 28-26. But the team traded the next 14 points, before the Warriors were able to come away with the win.

El Camino was then able to pull away to post a 30-26 win in the third game and closed out the victory with their 30-21 win in the forth game.

Mendez (15 kills, five blocks), Cid (15 kills, four aces), Tolentino (14 kills, 17 digs) and Liufau (nine kills, 15 digs) led the team.