Rio Hondo College and Cerritos College battled in a South Coast Conference volleyball match that lasted nearly three hours on Wednesday. Unfortunately, the Roadrunners faltered midway through the fifth and deciding set before falling to the Falcons 3-2 (23-25, 25-23, 25-23, 22-25, 15-6).

The back and forth battle saw the score tied 45 times including 13 times in an epic fourth set that the Roadrunners pulled out for the win. The fifth set started close once again but with Cerritos leading 7-6, four Rio Hondo attack errors contributed to an 8-0 run by the Falcons that allowed them to close out the match.

It was a total team effort for the Roadrunners in the narrow loss. Standouts included Faith Lee as she totaled a season-high 14 kills to lead Rio Hondo on offense. Nadine Oronoz also had a good match with 10 kills and 12 digs.

Daniela Sanchez had a team-best 20 digs while Faith Wada led with 30 assists with 13 digs. Alina Velo chipped in six kills and three blocks.

The loss dropped Rio Hondo to 3-5 overall and 1-1 in South Coast Conference play. The Roadrunners will look to bounce back on Friday (Sep. 17) when they travel to Long Beach City College for a 6 p.m. SCC match.