Familiar faces in new positions, everyday starters and depth pieces forced to step up into new roles pushed the Cerritos College Falcon’s volleyball team past the El Camino College Warriors in a dramatic 3-0 victory and gave Cerritos its first conference win of the season.
“This is a huge win for us,” Cerritos head coach Ashleigh Atsaros said. “It’s a security for hopefully getting first or second in conference.”
Atsaros noted the injuries her team has sustained earlier in the season resulting in some players playing out of position and utilizing others that haven’t played much at all.
She added, “They’ve been doing a great job. As you can tell we’ve been working our butts off in practice, adapting to the change and accepting the change. It’s only up from here.”
Sophomore Evelyn Soto-Castro who started playing a new position this year at setter has seen more time at her natural outside hitter position since the lineup changes have been implemented and finished the match against El Camino College with a match-high 14 kills.
“At first it was really hard to adjust to a new position,” Soto-Castro said.
“Now that I’m outside I feel like we’re still the same. It doesn’t matter who goes where, I feel like we all can play anywhere and as long as we have confidence, we’ll be fine,” she added.
Freshman Minerva Rodriguez played in only her third game of the season and took over at the setter position.
“Just working hard and pushing through,” Rodriguez said on how she’s taking on her new role. “Obviously, talk to my hitters, see where the open core is and just being supportive to them.”
She also noted her own struggles on the serve and on defense and said that was a priority for her before moving on to set for her teammates.
Rodriguez ended the match with 34 assists and added 10 digs defensively.
The Falcons played from behind in the first set and mounted a comeback from 21-18 with support from Evelyn Soto-Castro and Jordin Lewis who combined for nine kills in the set as Gabriella Colombo sealed the win with a service ace.
The second set saw Cerritos’s lead cut to 22-21 where outside hitter Elizabeth Beltran sealed the win with her fifth kill in the set.
The final set was a back-and-forth affair with 24 errors on both sides of the ball between the two teams. Cerritos lost its early lead but rallied back as Jordin Lewis, who scored the first point in the set with a kill, secured the match for the Falcons with a service ace.
Libero Roselyn Tobie led the match with 25 digs.
Lewis posted 13 kills along with 12 digs.
El Camino College Amiekal Looney led her team in kills, blocks and service aces.
Head coach for the Warriors Liz Hazell did not comment on the match.
The Falcons improved to an overall record of 6-6 and are now 4-2 at home.
Cerritos will continue conference play on Oct. 3 as it heads to Los Angeles Harbor College.
