Medina, Tulikihihifo Lead No. 5 Warriors Past No. 4 Santa Monica in Thriller

TORRANCE, Calif. – No. 5 El Camino College cruised early but had to hold of a furious rally by No. 4 Santa Monica College en route to a critical 3-2 (25-13, 25-16, 22-25, 17-25, 17-15) Western State Conference victory Wednesday night at the ECC South Gym.

On sophomore night, the Warriors (10-6, 4-1) were led by a pair of upperclassmen as Cesar Medina tallied 18 kills to lead all players and PJ Tulikihihifo added 16 kills on the night as the Warriors swept the season series from the Corsairs (12-5, 1-4) in dramatic fashion.

Pedro Campos dished out 43 assists as he set the Warriors to a .234 attacking percentage on the night and Jaden Misaalefua protected the net with five blocks (1 solo). As a team, the Warriors tallied 17 blocks (5 solo). Christopher Phanngam led the way with 12 digs for the Warriors.

ECC jumped all over the Corsairs to start the match. The Warriors never trailed in the first set and outhit SMC .360 (12-3-25) to .000 (8-8-30) in the opening frame.

After falling behind 1-0 in the second, the Warriors scored eight of the next 10 points to take an 8-3 lead. The Corsairs cut it down to two at 8-6 but a 9-3 scoring run gave ECC an eight-point edge and they never looked back.

The Corsairs picked themselves up in the third set, attacking at a .423 (13-2-26) clip in the frame. The set was tied four times before the Corsairs used a 4-1 spurt to turn a one-point lead to a 20-16 advantage and they held on to take the set.

They took the fourth set to tie things up but ECC jumped out to an 8-3 advantage at the side switch. That's when the Corsairs mounted their comeback, scoring six of the next seven to tie things up at 9-9. The teams traded points back and forth before Hunter Douglas notched only his third kill of the match, but it was crucial as it gave the Corsairs match point at 14-13.

The Warriors fought that off with great rally that culminated with Medina's 18th and final kill of the night to tie things up. Medina then picked up his third solo block of the night against Corsairs leading attacker Dane Pieper, putting the Warriors on the precipice of victory.

But Pieper and Andrew Dalmada returned the favor on the Warriors first match point of the night, swatting Medina's attack and tying things up at 15-15.

The Warriors would not be denied, though, as Campos notched his sixth and final kill of the night to give ECC a second match point and then Jaden Misaalefua closed things out with his ninth kill of the night to give the Warriors the victory.

ECC will wrap up the regular season on Friday night at Long Beach City to take on the first-place Vikings.