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College of the Canyons

FINAL RANKINGS — Women's Volleyball Finishes Season No. 8 in State

College of the Canyons women's volleyball logo.
December 7, 2021

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director  

After a Cinderella season that ended with a trip to the CCCAA State Championship Tournament, College of the Canyons concluded year as the No. 8 team in the state according to the final CCCWVCA state ranking released Dec. 6. 

The full final statewide rankings are available here.

Canyons (16-12), which started the season 2-8, won its final seven regular season games to get into the Southern California Regional Playoffs as the No. 15 seed. The Cougars were second in the Western State Conference, South Division with a 10-2 mark behind Bakersfield College at 12-0.

COC then defeated No. 18 Mt. San Jacinto 3-2 (25-16, 22-25, 25-17, 23-25, 15-8) in the Cougar Cage during the play-in round to move into the regional bracket.

The Cougars went on the road to upset No. 2 Pasadena City College 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-22) then came from two sets down to knock off No. 10 Ventura 3-2 (19-25. 16-25, 25-22, 25-18, 15-10) and advance to the state tourney for the fourth time in program history.

Playing as the South No. 4 seed at the state tourney, Canyons saw its season come to an end at the hands of North No. 1 seed Feather River College by a 3-0 (22-25, 11-25, 18-25) final score on opening night.

The Cougars placed fifth at the state tournament. Fresno City College was eventually crowned the 2021 state champion. 

"It was a really inspiring run to get to state and the players believed and cared for one another to get as far as we did," said COC head coach Clay Timmons after the state tourney.

Timmons has now led the Cougars to the state championship tournament twice (2017, 2021) in his six seasons at the helm. COC finished third at the state tourney in 2017, to equal the best finish in program history, after losing to eventual state champion Irvine Valley College in the semi-final round. Timmons was also an assistant under head coach Lisa Hooper on the 2015 Canyons squad that advanced to, and hosted, the state tournament in 2015.

Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.