Cerritos College beach volleyball teams lose their first conference game of the season to rival Long Beach City College Vikings, 4-1.
“I’m a little bummed because we always build up these Long Beach games and get excited to play them but we played not to the best of our ability.
We did some things and made some mistakes that we have made all year, so it’s frustrating because we know we are a lot better than we played today,” head coach, Kari Hemmerling said.
The game started with two of Cerritos’ pairs winning in their best of three sets with the duos being Leeya Rubio and Josie Navarro, along with Brisa Cortez and Nayeli SalasOrtiz.
But LBCC responded and won three of the five first sets giving them the upper hand early on in this match-up.
It was at this point of the game that LBCC had taken full control winning three of the five total pair matchups and declaring victory over Cerritos on the day.
Despite the score sheet showing a 4-1 victory for LBCC, Cerritos showed some fight with three of those matches being lost in the final sets.
Cortez and SalasOrtiz were the one duo who brought Cerritos one win on the day, helping the Falcons avoid a sweep loss.
“We work well with each other, a good connection and I think that’s important for us, especially on the court, I know I could trust her at getting certain balls, and she could trust me too,” Cortez said.
The most competitive matchup of the day involved the duo of Rubio and Navarro as their match ended in a nail-biter.
Both Cerritos and LBCC went toe-to-toe in the final set but the Vikings would come out of this match victorious.
“We did good in the first set, we adjusted to both players, where they were standing on the court and where they were playing on the court, and I think we took some good shots.
And in the second and third sets they kinda pick it up a little bit, I think we could’ve done a better job on getting on our toes and not getting so comfortable, they are a great team, a great pair, and they came together in the end,” Rubio stated.
This loss gives the Falcons an 8-4 record on the season and a 0-1 start in the conference.
They hope to bounce back on March 7 as they take a road trip to Walnut, CA to take on Mt. San Antonio.
