El Camino Beach Volleyball sweeps Cerritos College for second win against the Falcons on the season

Despite the efforts of the Cerritos College’s beach volleyball team, El Camino College gave it their all, beating the Falcons 5-0 on the ECC Sand Courts on Friday, April 5.

With things looking up for the Falcons in the first portion of the game, being ahead of the Warriors in all five matches, it wasn’t enough to take down the Warriors who marked three consecutive wins in a row.

“I think we had a few teams struggle in the first set, but they turned things around.” Warriors coach LeValley Pattison said. “We’ve been working hard and [have] seen some good improvement.”

Cerritos No. 2 duo Jasmine Soto-Castro digs the ball from the El Camino College Warriors on Friday, April 5, at the ECC Sand Courts. Soto-Castro and partner Brisa Cortez lost against the Warriors in three sets 21-16, 19-21, 15-8. (Ethan Cohen | The Union)

A total of five matches were played, with the Warriors winning three matches in the first portion, and winning two in the second portion.

“I thought we did great, I think me and Yas [Yasmine Watanabe]…a new pair, have been getting better, and getting to know each other more,” 21-year-old kinesiology major Crystal Salgado said. “At the end of the day, it’s all about having fun, [and] I had a lot of fun today.”

Despite the loss, Falcons coach Kari Hemmerling keeps on encouraging her players to get better after every game.

“I had higher hopes for us, and we have gotten better, but so have they,” she said. “Since it’s our first year having an official beach team, [there’s] a lot of learning and we’re getting better every time we compete,” Hemmerling said.

Despite the Falcons having the lead during the start of the second match on the first court, the Warriors top duo of Ryan D’Angelo and Bridget Dorr were able to bounce back and take the win making the score 21-17.

“We were down in game two, and they did a good job of battling back and winning that game instead of letting it go to three,” Warriors coach Liz Hazell said.

El Camino Girls Beach Volleyball players Yasmin Watanabe and Crystal Salgado high diving each other. (Eric Alvarez | The Union) — Falcons and Warriors players meet to high-five after a point during a match at the ECC Sand Courts on Friday, April 5. (Eric Alvarez | The Union)

Tensions were high on the second court when it came down to the third match. Both teams were full of focus and strength. Between both teams’ efforts, the Warriors ended up taking the win 15-8.

“[The Warriors] had lots of control, and overall this game was very competitive,” 19-year-old Falcons player Jasmine Soto-Castro said.

Even though the Warriors took the win today, the players and coaches from both teams knew that they still needed to improve on a couple of things.

“We had a little bit of a slow start, so moving forward we want to jump on it right away and not play into getting ready,” Hazell said about D’Angelo and Dorr’s first match.

Warriors No. 1 duo Bridget Dorr digs the ball during serve-receive from the Cerritos College Falcons on Friday, April 5. Dorr and partner Ryan D'Angelo beat the Falcons 21-15, 21-17. (Ethan Cohen | The Union)

The Falcons put up a fight on the fourth court, but duos Perla Lopez and 21-year-old psychology major Adelynn Abrams worked together to make sure they took home a win for their team.

“I thought me and Perla did really [well] today. We hustled really [well] too,” Abrams said.

Abrams and Lopez beat the Falcons in two sets, 21-18, 21-17.

Below are the five individual game outcomes:

Ryan D’Angelo / Bridget Dorr (ECC) def. Leeya Rubio / Jayda Harris-Amete (CC) 21-15, 21-17.
Erica Griffiths / Sophia Ortiz (ECC) def. Jasmine Soto-Castro / Brisa Cortez (CC) 21-16, 19-21, 15-8.
Kayla Keyzer / Bianca Atienza-Perez (ECC) def. Emily Gutierrez / Jenni Solano (CC) 18-21, 21-12, 15-7.
Perla Lopez / Adelynn Abrams (ECC) def. Madison Borja / Monserrat Rodriguez (CC) 21-18, 21-17.
Crystal Salgado / Yasmin Watanabe (ECC) def. Judit Navarro / Kira Magdaleno (CC) 21-8, 21-15.