Volleyball splits two

MONTEREY PARK, CA. — The East Los Angeles College volleyball team lost 3-0 to the state’s No. 6-ranked El Camino College after having defeated city rival Los Angeles Trade Tech College in three sets, 25-16, 25-14, 25-16.

ELAC, 8-11 overall and 3-5 in the South Coast Conference, lost the first set against El Camino (18-2, 8-0) 25-17, regrouped and came back stronger but lost the final two sets 25-21, 25-24.

Five ELAC sophomores totaled 32 kills, seven in the first set, 13 in set two and 12 in set three. Yekaterina Makarova (Almaty, Kazakhstan Military of Sport) and Breanna Trujillo (Montebello High School) led the Huskies with eight kills each.

Ashley Winet (L.A. Wilson HS) had seven kills, Jacqueline Torres (La Puente HS) had five and Jessica Nunez (Bell HS) had four kills.

El Camino had 38 kills and five service aces. ELAC hit two service aces, one by Nunez and the other by Trujillo.

Against Trade Tech (1-11, 1-7) in another South Coast Conference match-up, ELAC fell behind 1-3 then scored a 9-0 run, which included two kills by Trujillo and a service ace by freshman Clarissa Ruiz (Bell Gardens HS) enroute to a 25-16 first-set Husky win.

The second set began with a Trade Tech 1-0 lead. The teams fought a see-saw battle until ELAC pulled away after an 8-6 lead and scored six unanswered points. A Makarova kill gave the Huskies a 14-6 lead.

Trade Tech regrouped and outscored ELAC 8-4, but the Huskies controlled the remainder of the set for a 25-14 win. ELAC carried the momentum for a 25-16 third-set win.

The Huskies slammed 36 game kills to the Lady Techsters’ 18. ELAC also doubled service aces eight to four.

Trujillo led the Huskies with 12 kills, Makarova and Nunez each had nine. Winet had five kills for the Huskies. Freshman Antaniece Johnson led Trade Tech with six kills.

Trujillo served three aces. Ruiz added two as did Trujillo and freshman Alexis Diaz (Mendez HS). Freshman Darleen Gomez had two service kills for Trade Tech.

ELAC is on the road for its next two games before returning home for a match-up against Los Angeles Harbor College on Friday Nov. 6.

The Huskies play at Long Beach City College (4-14, 2-6) on Friday, Oct. 30 in a match for fifth place in the SCC standings and is at Mt. San Antonio College (12-4, 7-1) on Wednesday, Nov. 4. All three games begin at 6 p.m.

story submitted by Tadzio Garcia