Volleyball's Giant Run In 5th Set Produces 4th Straight Win

With its South Coast Conference North Division situation in serious jeopardy, the Pasadena City College women's volleyball team stepped up in spectacular fashion in the fifth set of its match against East Los Angeles College Friday night. The Lancers scored the first nine points and led by as much as 13-1 before closing out a 5-set victory, 25-13, 22-25, 25-16, 24-26, 15-4, at Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium.

PCC won its fourth straight match and improved to 9-8 overall while maintaining pace with fellow division leader Mt. San Antonio, now both at 2-0 to top the SCC North. Despite 11 kills by Yicel Quintero, ELAC fell to 8-7 and 0-2 in conference.

In the deciding fifth game, PCC took sideout on a block by opposite Kendall Schmedes. With defensive specialist Grace Crawford serving, the Lancers went on their run, highlighted by reserve frosh outside hitter Camille Ferguson scoring two overpass kills and combining on a pair of blocks with middle blocker Lania Potter. It was a block error that ended the spurt, but PCC grabbed sideout again on a Ferguson kill, then had back-to-back kills from Potter for an amazing 13-1 advantage. Letterman outside hitter Paige Clingaman finished off the inevitable with a kill for match point.

"It seemed the whole match was decided on serving and passing," said PCC head coach Mike Terrill. "We controlled the first and the third sets, and East LA just outplayed us with its serve and pass in the second and fourth sets. In the fifth, we put it all together and went on a roll. Ferguson had a great final set and she seized an opportunity to make a difference for us. We had a number of players step up with our setter Emily Leung making some key plays to stop ELAC from extending a few of their scoring runs. Grace Crawford did a great job on the serve and our libero Kelsey Sarreal dug everything (15 digs)."

In the fourth set, PCC trailed 6-1 and 10-3 before launching a 9-0 sideout run, including three aces by Crawford. ELAC jumped ahead again at 20-16, but the Lancers battled back and reached match point at 24-23. The Huskies though got kills by Kayla Dickerson and Quintero before a PCC attack error allowed ELAC to win the set in extra points, 26-24 and send the contest into a fifth game.

Leung, a sophomore and returning All-SCC First Team selection, tallied 43 assists, and added three kills and three blocks. Potter, also a letterman, hit a perfect .500 on 12 kills and no errors in 24 attempts. She added six blocks (one solo). Ferguson finished with 11 kills (hit .391) and four blocks while Clingaman recorded 11 kills. Schmedes made nine kills and served three aces while Crawford added 10 digs.

"We played a heavy pre-conference schedule and we took some lumps against great teams," Terrill said. "We've had to battle some injuries and mixing our lineups up, but we're starting to gain confidence again. We've had some good practices over these last few weeks and it's paying off with this win streak."

PCC and Mt. SAC will dual on Wednesday, Oct. 11 with the winner moving into first place by itself. The important divisional match begins at 6 p.m. in Walnut.