Women’s Volleyball: Rio Hondo moves to 3-1 with win over Fullerton

It was home, sweet home for the Rio Hondo College women's volleyball team on Wednesday. Playing on their home court for the first time this season, the Roadrunners rolled to a 3-1 non-conference victory over visiting Fullerton College.

Rio Hondo dropped the first set 22-25, but went on to win the final three by scores of 25-20, 25-23, and 25-22 to capture the match and improve to 3-1 overall.

"Our team battled hard tonight against a solid Fullerton squad," said head coach Teddi Esko after her team erased an early six-point deficit to come-from-behind in the fourth. "We played consistent in each aspect of the game.  Our aggressive serving set the tone for the match. Our defense was on point and we executed a strong versatile offense."

Sophomore Sierra Smethurst led the Roadrunners with 11 kills while hitting .308 for the match with four blocks. Sophomore Danielle Betancourt also contributed to the offense with eight kills, a .273 hitting percentage, and three blocks.

Also for the Roadrunners, sophomore Janine Coria totaled 21 digs and four aces, sophomore Nicole Vasquez had 16 digs and a team-best seven aces, and sophomore Aliah Trujillo added 27 assists and 10 digs.

"I'm very proud of our Lady Roadrunners," said Esko. "Our hard work in training really showed through our play tonight."

Rio Hondo will look to keep the momentum going on Friday (Sep. 6) when the Roadrunners play a pair of matches in Mission Viejo. Rio Hondo takes on host Saddleback College at 1 p.m. followed by a 4 p.m. contest against Santa Ana College.