For the third time this season, the Rio Hondo College women's volleyball team was victorious over Mt. San Antonio College. But the stakes were much higher on Wednesday as the No. 4-seeded Roadrunners advanced to the semifinals of the South Coast Conference Championship tournament thanks to its 3-1 opening-round win against the No. 5 Mounties at Long Beach City College.

Mt. SAC (9-17, 6-9 SCC) edged Rio Hondo in the opener, but the Roadrunners prevailed by winning the final three to pull out the 23-25, 25-11, 25-18, 25-18 victory.

Freshman Alina Velo led all with 14 kills for the Roadrunners. Sophomore Nicole Vasquez had a standout match, posting 11 kills, 11 digs, and 2 aces. Sophomore Danielle Betancourt added 7 kills and 3 blocks while sophomore Sierra Smethurst totaled 6 kills and 2 blocks.

Sophomore Aliah Trujillo paced the offense with 40 assists while coming up with 10 digs and 4 aces.

Sophomore Janine Coria led the Roadrunners on defense with 25 digs. Sophomore Mara Sanchez had 17 digs to go with 6 kills and sophomore Stephanie Perez chipped in with 8 digs.

Rio Hondo, now 14-10 overall and 8-7 in the SCC, will face No. 1 seed El Camino College on Friday (Nov. 15) at 7 p.m. in a semifinal match at Long Beach City College. El Camino was a 3-0 winner over No. 8 Cerritos College in its first-round match on Wednesday. No. 2 Long Beach will face No. 3 Pasadena City College in the other semifinal contest.

The tournament final is scheduled for Tuesday (Nov. 19) at LBCC.