Pack Topples Undefeated Vikings in Long Beach

by Cerwin D Haynes

Coming off a loss at home last  Wednesday to an unranked yet underrated Cerritos team, East Los Angeles College Women's Volleyball had a tall order trying to rebound tonight against the undefeated Long Beach City College Vikings. Ranked #8 in the state CCCWVCA standings, the Vikings also boasted the sixth-best TSRPI ranking in SoCal while enjoying a sharp turnaround from their 2022 campaign (3-16, 2-10). 

But these are the kinds of tough opponents ELAC will need to beat - particularly on the road - to not just stay in the mix of what is shaping up to be an epically tight conference race, but to prove to the state that the Huskies' emergence onto the big scene is for real.

A four-set victory did the trick for the road Green (25-11, 25-19, 24-26, 25-16): the Huskies (17-4, 5-3) handed the Vikings (12-1, 6-1) their first loss of the season. Sophomore OH Roselia Cazares lead the Huskies with both 15 kills and 22.5 overall points, adding 23 digs. Fellow sophomore OH Alejandra Larios had 14 kills en route to 19.0 points along with 22 digs.

East LA was able to pull off the big upset by improving upon their attack percentage and their serves. Against Cerritos, ELAC only managed .179 on attacks and only scored three aces against 12 service errors. But at Long Beach, the Pack upped their attacking to a .374 clip and netted 19 aces against eight errors.

HUSKY BITS

• Sophomore MB Kiara Davis had a team and season-high 12 solo blocks to power her 18.0 points. Also chipped in with six kills and a .571 attack rate.
• Sophomore S Stephanie Iglesias hit kills on all seven of her attacks (1.000).
• Sophomore L/OH Alejandra Alfaro had 18 digs.

UP NEXT:

The Huskies take a brief respite from South Coast Conference play when they host Santa Monica College (11-6, 3-1 WS-N) next Wednesday. The Huskies have played in a tournament hosted by SMC last month, but did not face the Corsairs during it.