First place in the South Coast Conference.

That is where the El Camino women’s volleyball team stands half way through the season.

The Warriors continued their incredible hot-streak as they traveled to Cerritos College last Friday and defeated the Falcons 3-0 (25-14, 25-22, 25-15).

The Warriors are playing like one of the best teams in the conference and rightfully so. They have not lost a single set since Sept. 20 and have swept five consecutive matches since then.

“That’s not really our goal; to not lose sets,” sophomore setter SueKalena Tafao said. “It’s the result of our small term goals like keeping the ball in play and no errors.”

Despite the lack of size and season-ending injury to sophomore outside hitter Nicole Echeverri, the team continues to impress with strong performances week in and week out.

The team has come together at the perfect time and is firing on all cylinders. Speed has become a huge asset to the Warriors and they are taking full advantage of it with excellent ball movement from all sides.

“Speed has made up for our lack height,” freshman outside hitter Laynie Thompson said. “Picking up balls that typically no other team would get.”

Limiting the turnovers also played a huge role in this win for the Warriors. Committing as few mistakes as possible, keeping the ball in play and allowing the Falcons to defeat themselves.

“We’ve been really big on limiting unforced errors on our side,” coach Le Valley Pattison said. “We have to put the ball away when we have the opportunity.”

The score was tied 9-9 in the first set before the Warriors ran off 11 of the next 12 points to take a commanding 20-10 lead and put the set away.

The Warriors found themselves down often in the second set and the match boiled down to a 20-22 deficit before they rattled off five-straight points to win the set.

After that all the momentum was on the Warrior side and they never looked back with a 25-15 victory in the final set.

Tafao led the team with 11 kills along with freshman middle blocker Kimberly Haney who registered 8 kills.

The Warriors will look to continue their hot streak against Harbor College on Wednesday, Oct. 16, at El Camino before heading over to L.A. Trade Tech on Friday, Oct. 18.

“It helps keep our team motivated seeing us up at number one,” Tafao said. “Every other team is out to get you so we just try to stay focused on our game.”