Women's Volleyball: Rio Hondo wins two at OCC quad

Rio Hondo College evened its record at 3-3 early in the season thanks to a pair of impressive wins at the Orange Coast College quad on Wednesday. The Roadrunners defeated host Orange Coast in a long five-set match (19-25, 25-19, 25-19, 26-28, 15-13) and then capped the day by sweeping Desert in three sets (25-11, 25-16, 25-22).

Rio Hondo's offense was led by sophomore setter Tanya Metchkoff in the marathon win over the OCC Pirates as she tallied 40 assists and had three aces. Sophomore captain middle blocker Erika Mendoza led the Roadrunners with 12 kills while hitting .241 while freshman middle blocker Bree Newton hit an impressive .444 on her way to 10 kills and posted five blocks. Sophomore libero Carleigh Cruz led the defense with 12 digs and freshman while defensive specialist Natalie Magallon posted 10 digs and three aces. Jacqueline Chaidez chipped in with two aces and Michelle Rosas contributed three blocks.

In the sweep over COD, standouts included freshman outside hitter Victoria Martinez with nine kills, sophomore middle blocker Kassandra Cuellar with 7 kills, while Chaidez hit .417 for the match.  Cruz was solid defensively with seven digs while Rio Hondo got six digs each from Chaidez, Rachel Bustillos and Martinez. Metchkoff led the offense with 20 assists and tallied five aces.  Cruz also served up four aces. 

"The team played great today in both matches," said head coach Teddi Esko. "Hopefully we can keep that momentum going."

The Roadrunners are back in action on Wednesday (Sep. 7) when they host Antelope Valley College at 5 p.m. in their home opener. Rio Hondo will play its next four matches at home, including hosting Santa Ana College and Saddleback College in a quad on Friday (Sep. 9).