The Tigers were soundly swept by the Cypress City College Chargers, falling to 9-4 in Orange Empire Conference play.

The Riverside City College volleyball team matched up against the Chargers at Don Johnson Gymnasium Nov. 6. Both teams came into the game just on the outside of the top two teams in the standings with RCC coming into this game with a 9-3 record while the Charger’s record was at 8-4.

In the first set, both teams went back and forth point for point. However, in the middle of that first set, Tigers standout sophomore outside hitter Kilyn Hayes went down with an injury. Hayes had an apparent knee injury while writhing in pain on the ground.

“I went to block a ball and when I came down my right knee rotated inwards and I felt something pop,” Hayes said. “I hope to be back next week or for the game against Saddleback because they are another good competitor. That’s a game where we’re going to need all 20 people on the court.”

After Hayes exited the game, she would not return for the rest of the night. The Tigers tried to fight back after Hayes’ injury, but they couldn’t pull it out as the first set finished with a final of 25-20 Cypress.

“Our big player got hurt,” head coach Clara Lowden said simply. “Unfortunately, she went down with an injury. We don’t know what’s wrong with her but she’s going to see the trainer tomorrow and we’ll figure it out from there.”

In the second set, the Chargers ran out to an early lead of 14-7. However, point after point started going to RCC and they eventually took the lead. But the Chargers fought right back and won the second set 25-23. On the offensive side of the ball for RCC, freshman middle blocker Jaeda Whitmire led the charge.

“Our passing caused us to have an off day today,” Whitmire said. “We shanked a lot of balls today and we should’ve talked more. If we communicate and work harder, we can get good sets and good hits.”

“In practice, we’re going to work on team energy and morale to make sure we don’t delay our game,” Whitmire added. “We have to keep thinking positive.”

In the third and final set, the Tigers faced utter domination with the Chargers surging ahead to a 21-10 lead and never looking back. The set ended with a score of 25-15 Cypress. Lowden voiced her displeasure about the loss postgame. 

“In our next practice we’re going to maybe make some lineup changes,” Lowden said. “We need to work on our passing and our defense in practice.”

With Hayes sidelined by an injury, the team scuffled down the stretch. 

“The team struggled to figure it out,” Hayes said. “I think I’m looked at as the scapegoat of the team, but incidents happen, and it switches things up. It puts pressure on every other girl to not give the other team the ball so they can score.”

The Tigers after surging out to 5-0 to start conference play have since faltered going 4-4 in their last eight. They’ll look to bounce back heading into their final three games of the regular season starting with first-place Saddleback College Nov. 13.