Warriors Split Matches at Tri-Team Tournament

TORRANCE, Calif. – No. 3 El Camino College faced a pair of tough tests Friday as the team welcomed College of the Canyons to the ECC South Gym for the annual ECC Tri-Team Tournament. The Warriors dropped a heartbreaker in the opener to Canyons but bounced back with a sweep over the Griffins to close out the long day of volleyball.

College of the Canyons 3, ECC 2

Phina Leilua and Mikayla Clark each blasted 18 kills but it was not enough as the Warriors suffered their first loss of the season in five sets against the Cougars (25-23, 25-23, 15-25, 20-25, 15-13).

The match featured 32 ties and 15 lead changes but errors proved to be the Warriors demise as they committed 22 attacking errors in the three sets they lost while committing just three combined in sets three and four.

Caitlin Donatucci dished out 30 assists and Keri Isara added 21 helpers with six digs in the loss while Kelly Donatucci led the defense with 24 digs.

Meris Ewell and Renee Brydon led the team with five blocks apiece while Leilua and Sophia Loiola added three apiece.  

ECC 3, Grossmont 0

The Griffins came into the match off a five-set victory over Canyons in the second game of the tournament and winners of eight of nine matches to start the year.

But the Warriors (6-1) were rested and pounced all over the visitors, earning a dominant sweep (25-13, 25-16, 25-17) to close out the day.

The Warriors jumped on the Griffins early, pounding out 13 kills on 27 attempts with just two errors for a .407 attack percentage in the opening set. The Griffins were out of sync from the jump, committing twice as many errors as they had kills in the opening frame and they never recovered.

The Griffins (8-2) had a negative percentage for the match (-.093) with 27 errors compared to 18 kills and the Warriors capitalized despite swinging it at a .192 clip (38-19-99).

Leilua led the team again with nine kills but she got help all around as Renee Brydon added eight kills with a .400 attack percentage and Clark chipped in with seven more kills. Sophia Loiola had five kills on 11 swings without an error while Caitlin Donatucci (17) and Keri Isara (16) dished out 33 of the team's 37 assists.

The difference in the match came at the net as the Warriors posted 18 blocks, led by Meris Ewell with five. Jocelyn Lacroix added four and Clark had three swats as six Warriors recorded multiple blocks in the victory.

The Warriors will stay home for their next match as they host Cuesta on Wednesday night at the ECC South Gym. First serve is set for 6 p.m.