Laughter and cheers filled the South Gym last Friday night when the Warriors defeated East Los Angeles to improve their record to 15-0 (6-0).
The Warriors outscored their opponent 75-38 and were able to give the reserves a lot of playing time.
“We played well,” Deja Dickerson said. “When we play a team that isn’t our level we tend to play down to theirs, but we didn’t do that today.”
The win against ELAC helped EC keep their No. 1 ranking in California.
The Warriors came out strong against ELAC and took the first game 25-9.
The second game was no different as they came out leading 3-0 and a Donella DiDomenico ace gave a big 8-1 lead early in the game to win the game 25-12.
The reserves came later into the match at the start of the third game, and Kiley Tamblyn was moved from libero to outside hitter.
“It felt good, and it was fun, even though I didn’t play as well as I would have liked to,” Tamblyn said. “It was good to have everyone get a chance to get some playing time.”
Tamblyn received honorable mention for the month of September in the California Community College Athletic Association for being named the MVP of the San Diego Mesa Tourament. The Warriors came out flat, but managed a 15-8 lead after a Waybright ace and an Amanda Rico kill.
“We need to improve on communication, and playing our hardest no matter who the team is,” DiDomenico said.
After a small rally by ELAC, the Warriors stepped it up and Tamblyn got her first kill on the night and put EC up 20-13. The bench and crowd went crazy after Tamblyn’s kill.
The crowd went wild again as Tamblyn racked up another kill to make it 22-15 and Rico with a kill gave the Warriors a 25-17 win.
“I think the difference is that we came out with a lot of energy tonight,” Dickerson said.
As the stats were spread all around, Waybright stood out having four aces, six kills and five digs.
Kayelani Tanuvasa was another bright spot with five kills, five digs and twenty assists. Yacine Meyer rounded it out with four kills and seven digs.
The Warriors hope to have outside hitter Sarah Prather back as soon as possible this week after missing the last three weeks to a knee injury.
“It was fun tonight because we had the chance to get a lot of girls some time on the court, and we got the win,” coach Le Valley Pattison said.
“Next Friday will be a big test for us because we will be on the road and Pasadena has only lost one game all year.”