Women’s Volleyball Records Fifth Straight Sweep

TORRANCE, Calif. – No. 5 El Camino College extended its winning streak and its sweep streak Wednesday night with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-14) South Coast Conference victory over visiting Cerritos at the ECC South Gym.

The Warriors (18-2, 5-0) recorded their eighth straight victory and fifth straight sweep. Of the team's 18 victories on the season, 16 of them have come in straight sets. Phina Leilua led the Warriors with 13 kills and added seven digs in the win over the Falcons (5-14, 1-4).

Meris Ewell was very efficient for ECC, posting 10 kills with just two errors on 18 swings (.444). She was also a menace at the net, leading all players with six blocks (two solo), accounting for half of the team's blocked shots on the night.

Kelly Donatucci covered a lot of ground on defense for ECC, posting a new season high with 25 digs. Caitlin Donatucci flirted with a double-double, dishing out 22 assists with nine digs and led the team with four aces.

The Warriros started off a bit listless in the first set as the Falcons jumped out to a 5-1 advantage thanks to three attacking errors by ECC. A quick 4-0 spurt by the Warriors tied things up and then another 6-3 run gave ECC the lead for good. The Warriors would close out the opening set on a 9-1 run to take a 1-0 lead despite attacking at a .167 clip with seven errors.

In the second set, the Warriors started hot and took an 8-4 lead early on. They would push the lead to six points at 11-5 but the Falcons rallied for 10 of the next 11 points to take a 15-12 lead. Jody Suski was the offense for the Falcons during that stretch, accounting for four kills in that span while Alexia Torres recorded the other kill. Warriors' mistakes also helped the Falcons surge ahead as ECC made three attacking errors and had a pair of bad sets to contribute to the Cerritos run.

But a service error ended that run and the Warriors would once again finish the set strong, going on a 13-1 scoring run to close out the second and take a 2-0 lead. Despite hitting .150 in the frame, the Warriors got four kills from Ewell while Mikayla Clark recorded three of her six kills in the second.

The third set was all ECC as the Warriors led wire-to-wire thanks to a .556 attacking percentage, recording 17 kills in the set with just two errors. Leilua was on fire in the frame, smacking down six kills on 12 swings with one error while Ewell added four on five swings with one miscue.

The Warriors will return to action Friday night for a non-conference matchup against L.A. Pierce at the ECC South Gym. First serve is set for 6 p.m.