Mt. San Antonio Grabs 1st Outright SCC Women's Volleyball Championship
In 2016, Mt. San Antonio College won its first-ever South Coast Conference women's volleyball title, capturing the 5-team, North Division. This year, the Mounties won their first outright SCC championship, taking first place in the 7-team league with an 11-1 conference record.
Mt. SAC, ranked #11 in the state, put together easily its finest regular season in the sport, carrying a 19-4 overall record as it awaits its seeding in the SoCal Regionals on Thursday.
The Mounties started out the year at 6-0, then overcame a 3-match losing streak to SoCal titans in South #1 Grossmont, #3 San Diego Mesa and South #5 Moorpark, all current members of the state top 10.
The only trip-up in the journey to the SCC crown was when #20 Rio Hondo upset Mt. SAC in five sets on Oct. 19. Since then, the Mounties won 15 of their last 16 sets v. conference opponents to string together a 5-match win streak.
Coached by Samantha Neely, Mt. SAC is paced by the SCC leader in hitting percentage in sophomore outside hitter and State Player of the Week winner Allison Whiteman, .333 attack clip, conference blocks leader in middle blocker Leia Campbell, who has 55 total blocks and averaging 0.87 a set, and last year's South Coast Libero of the Year in Riannel Arevalo, who is second in the SCC this year in digs with 292 and a 3.84 set average.
Maybe the most intruging part of the SCC race is what happened to #21-ranked Pasadena City College, last year's 18-0 conference champions. The Lancers, who despite a sparkling 17-7 overall record, including a number of quality victories, struggled in conference play and finished in a surprising fourth place at 7-5.
PCC is led by versatile setter Bia Silva, a State Player of the Week, who led the SCC in aces this year with 60 and has performed a remarkable four triple-doubles in kills, assists, and digs. Silva's 178 kills led all state setters.
Rio Hondo placed second at 9-3 and 13-6 overall under long-time head coach Teddi Esko. Setter and State Player of the Week awards winner Faith Wada has been a consistent performer for the Roadrunners, averaging 5.3 assists and 3.6 digs per set.
El Camino (10-11 overall) took third place at 8-4 and went 10-3 over its last 13 matches after toiling through a super-hard, pre-conference schedule that left the Warriors winless after their first seven matches. ECC is led by the conference's kills leader in Leafa Juarez, who averages 3.73 kills per set.
Finishing in fifth place was East Los Angeles, who is led by talented OH Roselia Cazares, while Long Beach City and Cerritos tied for sixth place. The Vikings only hurrah of the season was upsetting Pasadena on Oct. 26 as they were led by Danika Iosua, averaging 3.2 kills per set. Cerritos boasts the SCC digs leader in Breanna Lizarraga, averaging 5.11 per set.