Volleyball: Cerritos locks down first conference title since 1997

Falcons clinch share of conference title
Falcons clinch share of conference title

For the first time since 1997, the Cerritos College volleyball team has secured a share of the South Coast Conference championship. The Falcons (18-3, 7-1), who missed out on an outright championship after suffering a loss to Long Beach City College on Wednesday, will find out on November 21 where they are seeded for the upcoming southern California Regional Playoffs. The top eight seeds receive a bye in the first round and Cerritos appears to be in that group. If so, their first match will be on November 26. In their final regular season match, Cerritos dispatched Los Angeles Harbor College in three sets, 25-4, 25-17, 25-18.

Falcons clinch share of conference title The Falcons captured the first set quickly and then extended their bench for the final two sets. The sweep was their 16th of the season, while their current 18 wins are the most since the 2005 season. In the final two sets, the Seahawks stayed close until Cerritos was able to pull away at the end. In the final set, the match was tied, 18-18, with the Falcons recording the final seven points in a row to close out the win.

Sophomores Sydney May (Los Alamitos HS/UC Santa Cruz) and Jasmine Soto-Castro (Schurr HS) combined for 27 of the team's 39 kills, with sophomore setter Leeya Rubio (Schurr HS) dishing out 18 assists and led the back row with 13 digs. Sophomore Lillianna Peterson (California HS) played just the first set and recorded five kills, with sophomore Herlinda Casanova (St. Joseph HS/Rio Hondo College) came on to finish with seven digs, four assists and four service aces. As a team, the Falcons had 12 service aces, with sophomore Monserrat Rodriguez (Gahr HS/Long Beach City College) registering seven of them.