Volleyball Edges Riverside in Five Sets

The College of the Canyons volleyball team rallied from being down 2-1 to beat Riverside City College 3-2 (25-18, 22-25, 23-25, 25-11, 15-6) on Wednesday night.

Volleyball Edges Riverside in Five Sets
Box Score

Team Stats

September 18, 2013

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The College of the Canyons volleyball team rallied from being down 2-1 to beat Riverside City College 3-2 (25-18, 22-25, 23-25, 25-11, 15-6) on Wednesday night.

Freshman Lauren Underwood led Canyons with a season-best 23 kills, while freshman Serena LeDuff had 17. Sophomore Jordan Carter dished out 53 assists, to match her season high, to pace the offense. Sophomore Cassidy Fitzpatrick turned in 17 digs and sophomore Brielle Walker had 16. Freshman Camari McWright posted a career high six blocks and Sage Hernandez turned in three blocks.
Canyons hit .230 against the Tigers and registered 63 kills, 72 digs and 13 aces. Riverside hit .113 with 40 kills, eight aces and 55 digs.
Canyons took a 5-0 lead to start the match, but Riverside came back and tied it up 8-8 after a COC miscue. COC put together a 7-2 run in the middle of the set on a handful of kills from Underwood, to make it a 17-12 advantage for the Cougars. Riverside called a timeout and scored the next four consecutive points. Canyons would allow the Tigers to score two more points in the set and COC took the first set 25-18 after three errors from the opponent and two LeDuff kills.
The second frame stayed much closer with the teams going back and forth until Canyons fell behind 18-17. The Tigers pressed the Cougars and took a six-point advantage, 24-18. Canyons wasn't fazed by Riverside's run and rattled off the following four points to come as close as 24-22, forcing the home team to take a timeout. Out of the break, Fitzpatrick had a service error and match point went to Riverside, 25-22.

The Tigers jumped out to a 9-2 lead to start the third set, a lead they held onto until almost midway through the third set when Canyons came back to knot it up at 11. Underwood pounded in the next two points with kills, but the Tigers answered with four consecutive points and a 15-13 lead. The two teams exchanged points until the Tigers went on a 3-0 run and went up 22-18 over the Cougars. The lead was short lived and College of the Canyons went on a 4-1 run that tied up the score at 23 and forced a Riverside timeout. Riverside came out and notched a kill and a hitting error by Underwood gave the third set to Riverside, 25-23.

The third set was all Cougars as COC never trailed. Canyons let the Tigers get as close as three points, 9-6, but the Cougars went on a 6-3 run. Canyons turned in 11 kills and hit .375 in the set, going on to win 25-11.
COC leapt out to a 4-0 lead in the fifth and final set. Riverside turned in the next three points to come within one point as the Cougars reacted and Underwood notched two more kills and an ace, to go up 7-3. Riverside was forced to take a timeout, but it didn't do much as Canyons closed out the set on an 8-3 run and took the set 15-6, and the match.
Canyons will return to action on Friday, Sept. 20 as they travel to the San Diego Mesa Tournament.