Riverside City College, Tigers bounce back to beat Santa Ana College after the pressure of continuous losses.
The game started very promising for the RCC Tigers, with them gaining a lead of 7-2. They performed well defensively, blocking multiple attacks and making excellent saves, holding them only to 6 points while they had 15 before Santa Ana took a timeout.
“They put their bodies on the line at practice, and they just hustle. It shows here translating into very momentum leading plays,” head coach Vashti Elias Romero said.
Throughout the first set, the team was hyping each other up and keeping the energy flowing constantly.
“We’ve had games where we’ve all been really quiet and it was a dumpster fire,” Outside Hitter Karina Watts said. “But then we had games or like moments where we noticed that when we have that energy or confidence in each other and we ball out.”
After Santa Ana’s timeout, the Tigers continued their pattern of consistent scoring and confidence, winning the first set comfortably 25-13.
The second set was more competitive, with both teams being tied 5-5 in the beginning, but the Tigers quickly took control of the set, gaining a 10-5 lead. Santa Ana, however, continued to make the set competitive, but that did not stop the Tigers from winning the set 25-19.
“We have really great connections, we are a really big sisterhood over here and it just shows on the court”. Middle Blocker Sara Brittin said.
With the Tigers up by two sets and all the momentum, they looked to put the game away in the third.
The Tigers extended their path of dominance in the third set, leaping off with a 10-1 lead. They consistently shut down Santa Ana with several key blocks, limiting them offensively while the Tigers scored multiple times, growing their lead to 17-7.
However, in the second half of the set, Santa Ana started making big plays and the Tigers took a timeout with the scoreboard reading 19-15 Riverside.
“We just kinda needed to slow our game down. I think there’s times where we kind of let the other team dictate what we do so we took that time out to regroup,” Romero said.
The third set would remain a hard-fought battle, but Riverside City College would pull through, winning 25-20 and snapping their seven-game losing streak.
