Warriors shock Pasadena City with first win in women’s volleyball conference opener

By Ethan Cohen|September 17, 2022

The El Camino Warriors celebrate after winning a point against the Pasadena City College Lancers at the ECC Gym Complex on Friday, Sept. 16. The Warriors won their first conference match after going 0-7 at the beginning of their season. (Ethan Cohen | The Union)

“E-C-C!”

The chants of El Camino College’s initials were heard roaring throughout the gym complex as each dig made its way to a set and then a spike.

Leading 2-1 in the fourth set, the Warriors knew this was their chance to take home their first victory as a team.

El Camino women’s volleyball (1-7, 1-0 South Coast Conference) battled the Pasadena City College Lancers (9-3, 0-1) ultimately taking home the win 3-1 in its conference opener on Friday, Sept. 16.

Warriors' outside hitter Leafa Juarez jumps to position the ball over a Lancers' block at the ECC Gym Complex on Friday, Sept. 16. Juarez posted a staggering 28 kills in the match against the Lancers, tying the leading ECC record. (Ethan Cohen | The Union) — Warriors’ outside hitter Leafa Juarez (32) jumps to position the ball over a Lancers’ block at the ECC Gym Complex on Friday, Sept. 16. Juarez posted a staggering 28 kills in the match against the Lancers, tying the leading ECC record. (Ethan Cohen | The Union)

After taking ownership of the court in the first two sets, the Warriors clawed tooth and nail to take home the victory.

Since the start of their season, the Warriors struggled, being handed loss after loss in their first seven games. The team could barely put up more than two sets against their opponents.

Warriors middle blocker Alex Perryman (7) spikes the ball into an opposing Lancers block at the ECC Gym Complex on Friday, Sept. 16. Perryman would throw down 10 kills in 24 total attempts during the match. (Ethan Cohen | The Union)

“We’ve had a rough road to begin, but we’ve played a lot of really good teams,” said coach Liz Hazell. “We [kept] getting close and we just needed to get over the hump.”

Hazell, who has coached the women’s volleyball team for four seasons, said that she coaches the players to bring “calm to chaos” instead of thinking that they need to do more on the court to come out on top.

“People think that, ‘I have to do some big type of thing’ to be noticed, you want to go unnoticed,” Hazell said. “You don’t need to be the hero. If everybody plays their spot, then it’s a team sport.”

The Warriors struck hard in the first two sets of play coming out strong offensively with 29 kills to the Lancers’ 18, holding their errors to a minimum clutching the first half of the match 25-14 and 25-21.

Warriors player Leafa Juarez (32) digs the ball from a Lancers' attack at the ECC Gym Complex on Friday, Sept. 16. Juarez shined during the match as she recorded 7 digs and 28 kills helping push the Warriors over the edge to victory. (Ethan Cohen | The Union) — Warriors player Leafa Juarez (32) digs the ball from a Lancers’ attack at the ECC Gym Complex on Friday, Sept. 16. Juarez shined during the match as she recorded 7 digs and 28 kills helping push the Warriors over the edge to victory. (Ethan Cohen | The Union)

Sophomore Leafa Juarez, an outside hitter for the Warriors, proved to be one of the night’s shining stars on the court clocking in a career record total of 28 kills for the match.

The last time a player recorded those numbers was before the pandemic in the first round of the CCCAA SoCal Regionals against Fullerton on Nov. 26, 2019, according to the Warriors Athletics website.

“Coach always told me to swing at the ball no matter what the set is because I know it’s never going to be a perfect set,” Juarez said, “So I just got up and swung.”

Juarez said that during the team’s struggle in the third set against the Lancers, all she was thinking about was how she could pick her teammates up focusing on being a leader on the court and playing the game the best she could.

Warriors players Mya Johnson (left) and Athina Sarreas (right) jump to block a Lancers' spike at the ECC Gym Complex on Friday, Sept. 16. The Warriors would beat out the Lancers 3-1 in their first win of the season. (Ethan Cohen | The Union) — Warriors players Mya Johnson (left) and Athina Sarreas (right) jump to block a Lancers’ spike at the ECC Gym Complex on Friday, Sept. 16. The Warriors would beat out the Lancers 3-1 in their first win of the season. (Ethan Cohen | The Union)

Lancers coach, Mike Terrill, told The Union that Warriors’ player Juarez “played out of this world” and explained the difficulty to slow down a player that is playing that well.

Terrill said that the Warriors’ record was misleading explaining that he told his team they needed to be motivated and play hard in the conference opener to take home the win.

“They’re always well coached, their systems are good,” Terrill said. “We knew that they’d be prepared.”

Terrill said that the team needed to be more “assertive” and “aggressive” in everything that they did on the court, which came out in the third and fourth set of play but did not serve to the Lancers’ advantage in the end.

The El Camino Warriors celebrate their first match victory of the season over the Pasadena City College Lancers at the ECC Gym Complex on Friday, Sept. 16. After going 0-7, the Warriors came out hot with a win in their first conference match of the season. (Ethan Cohen | The Union)

“You can’t have slow starts in any sport,” Terrill said. “It was nice to play better than we did… but too little too late tonight.”

For the Warriors, their first win is sure to set up the energy going into the conference season of match play. The Warriors hope to continue its momentum on the road at Cerritos on Friday, Sept. 23, at 6 p.m.