It wasn't the outcome the Rio Hondo College women's volleyball team was looking for, but head coach Teddi Esko was proud of her team's effort. On Friday, the Roadrunners extended No. 7 state-ranked Santa Barbara City College to five sets, ultimately falling by scores of 25-10, 24-26, 25-20, 25-27, 15-5.
Rio Hondo battled in Sets 2 and 4, needing extra points to earn the wins but ran out of gas in the deciding fifth set. The Roadrunners faced their third straight state-ranked opponent on Friday after taking on No. 3 Pasadena City College and No. 15 Mt. San Antonio College in their last two.
The Roadrunners offense totaled 46 kills against Santa Barbara, their second highest amount of the season. Sophomores Ariel Garcia and Alina Velo carried the load, slamming down 13 and 12 kills respectively. Garcia added 22 digs and 3 aces to her big night on the court.
Denisse Sanchez led the Roadrunners with 28 digs, Faith Lee chipped in with 23 digs and 6 kills, and Leanet Fandino added 6 kills.
Setters Faith Wada and Adrianna Gonzalez also played well. Wada totaled 24 assists and 16 digs while Gonzalez had 19 assists and 19 digs.
Rio Hondo fell to 5-10 overall. The Roadrunners will look to snap a four-match losing streak on Wednesday (Oct. 13) when they travel to Compton College for a 6 p.m. South Coast Conference match.
