Solid play and consistent defense helped the women’s volleyball team improve its record to 4-0 against conference teams and 15-1 for the season by easily defeating Cerritos College 25-10, 25-17, 25-18.
This game was a rematch from an earlier game in which the Warriors narrowly won. There were expectations that the Falcons would play strong against EC, but those expectations were not met as the Warriors stomped out the Falcons in three quick sets.
“Either they had an off-night or we had an on-night, because we were not expecting to take it to them as easily as we did,” coach Le Valley Pattison said.
The Falcons, who came into the game with a .500 record, played well against EC the previous time the teams met, but the Warrior defense played much better this time around, not allowing Cerritos to score more than 18 points in any one match during the game.
So far this season, the EC middle hitters have been hitting quality shots and have been taking advantage of every scoring opportunity they are given, allowing them to have the highest kill percentage on the team.
The Warrior outside hitters also have been playing better with each passing game and have been carrying a majority of the teams’ workload.
“Our outside hitters have been receiving good and bad sets all season, but are talented enough that they are able to handle anything that comes their way,” Pattison said.
The teams’ outside hitters are all first-year players for the Warriors, which makes their outstanding play even more impressive.
“Our setter, Sam Taylor, has been amazing for us this season, so it makes it a lot easier for us to make good plays,” freshman outside hitter Jo Tulikihihifo said.
Against Cerritos, Taylor played a great game, having 35 assists in just three games. Offensively, Taylor was able to spread the ball around the court allowing every team member to make contributions.
“Having this great team playing with me makes it much easier to set well,” Taylor said
Ashley Hardy was able to knock down nine kills and was joined by Amrita Tuladhar and Kara Lei Cummings, who had eight kills each.
Tulikihihifo was the team leader in kills against Cerritos with 11 total.
On the defensive side, the Warriors received help from everyone on the team and held the Falcons to under 20 points in each game for the first time this season.
Karina Woehrstein was the team leader on defense, collecting 14 digs, but was given an enormous amount of help from her teammates Cristina Towere, Tuladhar and Kiley Tamblin, who had eight digs each.
“Our defense played with strength and consistency throughout the entire game against Cerritos,” Pattison said.
One of the players who has been flying under the radar has been freshman Christina Theobald.
Theobald is beginning to earn more playing time from coach Pattison and she is taking advantage of every opportunity with her great defensive play.
“(Theobald) is a great player with some of the best court awareness I have seen in my 16 years of coaching,” Pattison said.
