Steen, Payne Lead Warriors Past Antelope Valley

TORRANCE, Calif. – El Camino College kicked off the second half of conference play Friday night with a 3-1 (25-5, 25-16, 23-25, 25-13) victory over Antelope Valley at the ECC South Gym.

The Warriors (12-1, 7-0) extended their winning streak to 10 games and remained undefeated in conference action. Cameron Steen led the way with 15 kills while Connor Payne added 12 kills and eight digs.

Emerson Clinton dished out 34 of the team's 51 assists and Easton Depew led the defense with 13 digs. Cruz Padilla and Clinton led the team with three blocks.

The Warriors dominated the opening frame, leading wire-to-wire as they hammered down 13 kills on 21 attempts with only one error (.571) while the Marauders (1-11, 0-7) managed just two kills in the set and attacked at a negative percentage.

In the second, the Marauders hung around early but ECC again never trailed as they outhit Antelope Valley .286 to .057 in the set.

The third set was the most competitive as there were nine ties and three lead changes. The biggest lead of the set was four points in favor of ECC early. The Warriors did hold a 21-18 lead late in the frame but AVC erased the deficit with a 4-0 scoring run aided by a pair of attacking errors by the Warriors. In fact, four of the Marauders' last five points in the set came off Warriors attacking errors, sending the match into a fourth set.

But the Warriors cleaned things up in the fourth set after committing 10 errors in the third. They attacked at a .370 clip (15-5-27) and once again never trailed en route to the victory.

The Warriors will now hit the road for their next match against rival and second-place Long Beach City on Wednesday night.