Everyone watched with eager anticipation as the ball endlessly traveled from each side of the net; as the the third set loomed on both teams were locked into a fierce rally with neither side giving an inch.

After a series of incredible saves, sophomore outside hitter, Nicolle Echeverri, saw a perfect assist and went for the kill; catching the Corsairs off guard and shifting the momentum back to the Warriors.

Every time Santa Monica City College would attempt a comeback, El Camino would respond as the Warriors (1-0) held off the Corsairs (0-1) in the 2013 season opener with a 25-21, 21-25, 25-13, 25-17 victory.

“It was a little slow in the beginning,” Echeverri said. “But I think as the game progressed we did a lot better. I’m excited for what’s going to come next and can’t wait to see what happens.”

Both teams seemed to be shaking off the rust as each side made several service errors and hitting mistakes; the miscues would last the entire first set and seep into the beginning of the second before the Warriors were able to take control of the match.

“We’ll look at the game tape and look at some things, make a few changes and be ready to go,” coach Le Valley Pattison said.

The team has an abundance of new faces this year with several freshman making their debut and only a couple of returning starters.

“We have a lot of freshman on the court and they improve with every game,” Pattison said.

Echeverri is one of the returning sophomores and figures to be a leading role on the team; she quickly led by example, registering a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs.

“I know that a lot of the girls look up to me so I want to make sure that I’m a good leader for them to follow,” Echeverri said.

With the loss of Tarryn Luafalemana (CSU Dominguez Hills) and 2012 conference MVP Nigeria Owens (CSU Los Angeles), the team has become much smaller and will have to work together to overcome the size disadvantage.

“We’re kind of small so we’re really going to work on being smart with the ball digging a lot,” sophomore setter, Allison Lim, said.

The Warriors have won three straight conference titles heading into the 2013 season and will be looking to keep their run of excellence going.

“Realistically we could be top 10 in the state,” Pattison said. “Our league’s tough so we battle for a conference championship every year.”