After the Cerritos College volleyball team completed its scrimmages against San Bernadino Valley College and Santa Ana College, the Falcons proved two things.

First, Cerritos enters the 2009 season as the dark horse of the South Coast Conference. And second, the team is deeper than Bill Gates’ pockets.

Due to a pull-out by Riverside, Cerritos was forced to cut its team in half and compete as two separate squads for its pool play scrimmages on Wednesday, August 26.

This did not stop either team from humbling its opponents in this warm-up to the regular season.

Not only did the first string overpower both SBVC and Santa Ana, but the second string proved why it deserves a shot at a starting gig.

“We’re very deep. We have much more depth than last year. We have a bench that makes us stronger,” said co-head coach Gay Castaneda.

Leading this deep squad is returning outside hitter Sarah Naranjo.

Naranjo earned All South Coast Conference second team honors in 2008, and looks to be a prime candidate for the first team this upcoming after her solid all-around performance against SBVC and Santa Ana.

“We are coming in as underdogs, but Cerritos is a team to look out for,” warns Naranjo. “We played against two different types of teams today, and we adapted to both of them well.”

Much of that adaptability came from the steady hands of setter Monique Gayton, who stood out in both games with her perfect timing on quick sets.

After spending some time away from Cerritos since her freshman season, Gayton rejoins the team as both a top quality player and leader.

Castaneda is looking to Gayton to be an impact player this season.

Looking to benefit from Gayton’s sets will be middle blocker Yawen Zahn, along with outside hitters Cynthia Andrade and Chanelle Puou.

During the scrimmages, it was Puou that impressed with her power from all over the court.

All day, the ball seemed to simply bounce off of the other team, rather being passed.

Although the power game is fun to watch, the coaching staff knows it will take more than kills to have a successful season. “Overall we played well today, but there are still things we need to improve on,” said Castaneda.

If Cerritos is able to continue to improve and carry the momentum from the scrimmages into the regular season, then the postseason is a very real possibility.

However, Castaneda and the rest of the team are shooting even higher.

“Our goal is to make it into the playoffs. We haven’t been there for a couple of years. But we really want to place top three in conference.”

With a combination of a solid returning core and a bench that’s able to compete with other schools’ starters, a top-three finish this season is not out of the question.

Cerritos starts the 2009 campaign by playing in the Coyote Classic tournament on Sept. 12, at Cuyamaca College.

The team then travels to San Diego Mesa for the San Diego Mesa Tournament on Sept. 18-19, before playing its first home game Sep. against Fullerton College.