Five Sets Anyone? PCC Volleyball Obliges, Edges Cerritos

No team plans for 5-set matches but in the past 13 days, the Pasadena City College women's volleyball team has played five matches that have gone the distance. The Lancers most recent marathon took place Friday night at Cerritos with PCC winning the South Coast Conference crossover, 23-25, 25-12, 25-16, 18-25, 15-11. It was the fourth time in the last five contests that went five games.

Pasadena (4-7 overall) dropped the first set, won the next two in commanding fashion only to see Cerritos send it to the fifth set with a 25-18 win in set 4. In the fifth, the Lancers led 6-5 and 11-7 before the Falcons (3-6) cut it to one, 12-11, on a Regan Stanton ace. At that point, PCC closed in for the victory with a kill by Camille Ferguson, an attack error by Cerritos, and Danielle Johnson's kill for the match. 

Leslie Rivera once again was all over the floor as she scored team highs in kills (17, hit .333), digs (17) and aces (four). Abby Martin did not make an error in 33 attempts and totaled 15 kills with a .455 percentage. Johnson added nine kills while Ferguson had seven kills and two aces. Audrey Altamirano contributed six kills and three blocks. Tehya Topalian set 28 assists and Pamela Galvan made 16 digs. Jody Suski powered 21 kills and Stanton had 26 digs and four aces to lead Cerritos.

The Lancers are 3-2 in their 5-set affairs this year. In 26 total losing sets (not including its two shorter fifth set defeats), the team is averaging a competitive 19.5 points. Seven times PCC lost a set by just two points, including a 20-18 fifth set loss to Antelope Valley, while the team also won four such sets. The unranked Lancers have also played against the likes of No. 5-ranked Grossmont, No. 6 Moorpark, No. 11 Bakersfield, No. 12 Cypress, and No. 24 MiraCosta. 

Next Wednesday, Sept. 26, PCC plays a SCC crossover at state No. 3-rated El Camino College. First serve is 6 p.m.