Warriors Score Upset Win over No. 2 Long Beach
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Long Beach (9-2, 4-1) | 25 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 1 |
|
El Camino (7-4, 3-1) | 23 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
TORRANCE, Calif. --- No. 6 El Camino College stunned No. 2 Long Beach 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-18) in a Western State Conference match Friday night at the ECC Gym Complex.
The Warriors (7-4, 4-1) handed the Vikings (9-2, 4-1) just their second loss of the season and pulled even with LBCC at the top of the WSC Standings with Friday's win. Prior to tonight, the Vikings' only loss of the year came to No. 1 Orange Coast.
Travis Hannemann shined offensively for the Warriors as he lead all players with 19 kills on 38 swings with eight errors (.289). He also added four digs and three blocks. Vladimir Kubr dished out 34 assists while Andrew White added nine kills on the night.
While the Warriors only attacked at a .216 clip, they dominated at the net as they recorded 12 blocked shots as a team, led by Ethan Morgan's eight on the night. Dylan Garcia and Spencer Isley each added four blocks with Hanemann and Kubr adding three.
For the Vikings, Erik Hernandez led the way with 14 kills but no other teammate recorded more than seven kills as LBCC attacked at just a .183 clip. Joseph Rocha dished out 34 assists. The Vikings did not do themselves any favors with 19 service errors and three blocking errors.
The Warriors dropped the first set but made it a hard fight, erasing a late 23-19 deficit to pull within one. But a service error and a kill from Hernandez sealed the set for Long Beach for a 1-0 lead.
After that, it was all ECC as they took the next three sets by relatively comfortable margins. The Warriors outhit the Vikings in the second and third sets and grinded out the fourth despite attacking at a .000 clip (10-10-25). It helped that the Vikings were in the red in the fourth set, recording just six kills to go with eight errors on 23 attacks (-.087).
The Warriors have now won four straight conference matches after dropping their WSC opener to Moorpark at home on Feb. 23. They will return to action at Santa Barbara on Wednesday to wrap up the first round of conference play and then they'll have a chance at revenge as they travel to Moorpark on Friday.
