20th-ranked COC Volleyball Defeats No. 18 Citrus College
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – The 20th-ranked College of the Canyons volleyball team squeaked out a tight 3-1 (25-19, 25-19, 23-25, 28-26) match against the No. 18 squad Citrus College on Friday night at the Cougar Cage.
Freshman Serena LeDuff led Canyons with 21 kills and 15 digs, while Lauren Underwood had 16. Sophomore Jordan Carter dished out 46 assists to pace the offense. Carter also had 14 digs and freshman Angelica Gonzalez turned in 11. Freshman Camari McWright had a team-high seven blocks.
The Cougars took a 7-2 lead to start the match as the team came out looking very sharp. Canyons increased its lead to 19-9, but a trio of hitter errors by COC inched the Owls closer to College of Canyons, 19-13. Citrus gathered itself despite a kill from LeDuff and went on a 4-1 run at the end of first set to come within five points, 22-17. The team gave up two more points to Citrus and closed out the set one for COC 25-19.
The second frame saw the Cougars down 3-0 to the Owls, but it was Canyons who fought back after a McWright kill that gave the Cougars a 9-5 lead. The team continued to attack and pushed the lead up to 18-10. Citrus surged in the middle of the set, after a barrage of Cougar miscues, but in the end, the Cougars won the second set 25-19.
Citrus jumped out to an 8-7 lead in the third stanza, a lead they would hold on to until the end of the set. Canyons tied it up at 21 after a LeDuff kill and a Carter block and forced the Owls to take a timeout. Out of the break McWright and LeDuff punched in kills and gave the Cougars a 23-21 lead. Canyons was held scoreless the rest of the set, while Citrus took the set 25-23.
The fourth set looked like the Cougars were in control after jumping out to a 5-1 lead. Citrus once again found its stride and put kill after kill into COC's side of the court. COC stayed close as the two squads went back and forth. The Cougars finished the set and match with a little help from the Owls' service error and capped it off with a LeDuff kill to make it 28-26 College of the Canyons.
The Cougars return to action on Friday, Oct. 18 as they host Glendale College at 6 pm in the Cougar Cage.