Five keys to the El Camino women’s volleyball teams’ first round match versus Bakersfield College

By Phil Sidavong • November 21, 2016

El Camino’s freshman outside hitter Jaylin Motley, and sophomore opposite hitter Taylor Brydon celebrate a point against Cerritos College on Sept. 23. Photo credit: Jo Rankin

The No. 8 state-ranked El Camino women’s volleyball team heads into playoffs as conference champions for the seventh-straight season and the third-straight season undefeated in conference.

Despite being No. 8 the state, the Warriors are ranked No. 6 in the Southern California brackets.

The first round of the 2016 playoffs will feature a rematch from the second-round of the 2015 playoffs as El Camino will host Bakersfield College on Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 6 p.m.

In last year’s match-up the Warriors came out on top over the Renegades in a 3-1 victory, so here are five keys to the match:

1) Bakersfield College is the No. 8 offense in the state for total kills, and despite not having a player in the top 50 for kills, the team features six different players with triple-digit kills. The Renegades will need to come out with their high-flying offense.

AP0A2067 copy.jpg — Freshman outside hitter Aiko Waters attacks the ball against L.A. Harbor College in the team's final regular-season home game on Wednesday, Nov. 9. Photo credit: Jo Rankin

2) El Camino is tied for No. 7 in the state for total blocks with 195. If the Warriors want to stop Bakersfield from attacking effectively, they’ll need to dominate on the defensive side of the net.

3) The Renegades are tied for No. 35 in the state for total blocks with 135. The Warriors are home to offensive-leader sophomore opposite hitter Taylor Brydon (No. 32 in the state with 273 kills).

Bakersfield will need to keep her in check if they want a shot at the second round of playoffs, while El Camino need to have Brydon do what she does best in order to move on.

AP0A1571 copy.jpg — The No. 6 Southern California ranked El Camino Warriors come together during a timeout against Cerritos College on Friday, Sept. 23. Photo credit: Jo Rankin

4) Bakersfield is 0-6 this season against team’s ranked higher than them, losing twice to No. 3 Santa Barbara City College and No. 4 Mira Costa College, and once to No. 10 San Diego Mesa College and No. 2 L.A. Pierce College.

El Camino is the higher seed in this match-up and is 21-0 against team’s ranked lower than it this season. Bakersfield will need some magic to break the streak.

5) This season, the Warriors have come out flat in all three of their losses against No. 5 Cypress (lost in three), Mira Costa (lost in four) and No. 1 overall seed Grossmont College (lost in four).

Despite being 4-0 in five-set matches, El Camino has failed to come out strong against Cerritos College (not in playoffs), Mesa (in a rematch) and twice against No. 9 Long Beach City College.

If Bakersfield College can take advantage of a potential slow start, the Warriors could be in trouble.

For more updates or live highlights of the matches, follow @ECCUnionPhil on Twitter.