Pete Moye’
Sports Button

The Cerritos College women’s volleyball team got its conference win over East Los Angeles College. Cerritos won three of the four sets (17-25, 25-10, 25-20, 25-17) setting the pace of the match in the second set.

Reason for the turnaround early in the game was because “we got motivated in the fact that we didn’t want to lose to a team that we know we can beat,” according to freshman Jessica Peralta.

“[against] ELAC we played harder we tried harder.”

Another integral part of the Cerritos win was Captain Lupe Garcia, who had a total of 12 kills, 16 digs and 18 assists.

An interesting technique the team has to keep motivated is its own sideline cheers. It is a tradition that has been passed down and not only helps intimidate the opposing team but keeps the players on the sidelines involved.

“Even though you’re on the sideline you still have a big impact on how we play in the court” sophomore Madison Guastella said.

“With our team on the sideline cheering, it brings us up and keeps us going.”

Cerritos’ next match is against Long Beach City College taking place on Oct. 5. Cerritos got the opportunity to see Long Beach play at the pre-season San Diego Mesa Tournament but did not play against the team. There Cerritos was able to see what to anticipate from the Long Beach team.

Redshirt Stephanie Ortiz said about the Long Beach team, “We saw them in San Diego and they put up a fight and just because it’s Long Beach, we’re gonna fight through it.”

Naturally the Cerritos team always expects to play their best against any team but there is something special about playing against Long Beach City College that is summed up by Ortiz.

“It’s a classic” she said, “Long Beach-Cerritos, expect it to be like they want to beat us and we want to beat them, so hopefully the girls show up.”