Frances Rodriguez sets up Jennifer Daigle for the kill against ELAC.
The Mt. SAC women’s volleyball team opened up South Coast Conference play with a straight-set victory over the visiting East Los Angeles College Huskies (25-8, 25-13, 25-15) Wednesday night at the Mt. SAC gym.
“It’s a different opponent,” head coach Maria Dennis said. “OCC was ranked number four. This team is at a different level of competition from OCC.”
Freshman Jennifer Silva’s 11 kills and two blocks led the Mounties’ attack. Caitlin Dallen added four kills and three blocks, and Cassandra Mahina added five kills and one block.
“Since the last match we trained the girls to be persistent and work hard no matter what,” Dennis said. “Today they applied it.”
Mt. SAC (4-2) started out quickly in the first set. Tied 3-3 they went on a 7-0 run and then a 12-1 run to easily dispatch the huskies 25-8. Samantha Hould, Rachel Anderson and Emelina Garcia each tallied two aces apiece, with Garcia’s two aces the final two points of the set.
Mt. SAC started the second set where they left off in the first, as they opened with a 4-0 lead. However, the Huskies did not allow any extended runs as they were able to respond to Mt. SAC scoring with scoring of their own. However, the Huskies just didn’t have enough as the Mounties closed out the second set 25-13.
In a more competitive third set, no team gained a significant advantage with each team answering the other’s scoring. Mt. SAC closed out the set and the match 25-15.
Mt. SAC was able to play everybody, which Dennis said is something they want to do when they can.
“Our goal is to try and give everyone an opportunity to play as much as possible,” Dennis said. “Playing in a game like this gives us that opportunity.”
Briana Harvey led the way for East LA (0-4), tallying 6 kills and a block. Defensively, the Mounties attacks that did not hit the ground most likely were picked up by the Huskies’ libero, Maritza Guartado who tallied 10 digs in the match.
Mt. SAC will go on the road for two conference contests against State Champions El Camino College tonight and then LA Harbor Friday night. Both matches start at 6 pm.
-Story by Henry Montemayor
-Photo by Andrew Valenzuela
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