State #11 Women's Volleyball Upsets #5 Moorpark in 4

Much like it did last season, the Pasadena City College women's volleyball team is establishing itself as a force in the Southern California region. Ranked #11 in the opening CCCWVCA State Top 25 Rankings, the Lancers made a statement Wednesday night in defeating #5 Moorpark in 4 sets, 25-19, 21-25, 25-22, 25-23, at Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium.

The Lancers improved to 6-2 and extended their winning streak to four.

In the opening game, Setter Bia Silva got things going with four kills, several on dump plays, then lobbed an attempt over a Moorpark block for set point.

After the Raiders (2-1) bounced back to win set #2, they then took a commanding 7-1 lead in the third set. Trailing 11-6 after PCC got sideout, Silva landed three aces during a 7-0 run. Moorpark held a 22-21 lead, but outside hitter Emma Yogan received two perfect sets by Silva and ripped two kills to close out a 3-point win and 2-1 sets lead.

In the fourth set, again Moorpark seemed to gain control behind two aces in a serving run by Larissa Dakoske that gave the Raiders a 7-2 lead. The teams traded six ties before Kyley Chang scored a kill and a Moorpark attack error sealed a 2-point set win and a huge Lancers victory.

"We're a young team showing improvement in our ability to trust our training and preparation," said PCC head coach Mike Terrill. "Moorpark is always well-coached and it was a great job by our team to come back from the deficits we faced tonight. We executed well in the big moments. Our energy maintained their energy and belief even when things weren't going our way."

Yogan scored 13 kills in a whopping 50 attempts with 14 digs, three aces and three blocks, totaling a team-high 17.5 points. Silva added seven kills, 24 assists, five aces, eight digs and two blocks while opposite Kyley Chang added eight kills, four aces and five digs. Outside hitter Ashley Marrone came off the bench to score 10 kills.

Middle blocker Ashley Gilbert contributed five assisted blocks and served two aces. Libero Emily Licon made 15 digs. 

PCC overcame an unusual 18 serving errors, but Moorpark wasn't much better in that department with 16 serve mistakes. But in a close match, a 16-9 ace advantage by the Lancers proved large.

On Friday, the Lancers host PCC Quad #2 and will face Antelope Valley at 11 a.m. and 210-freeway rival Citrus at 1 p.m.