Nielsen, Griffiths Shine in Debuts as Warriors Open Season with Sweep

TORRANCE, Calif. --- Sophomore Scheala Nielsen and freshman Erica Griffiths were outstanding in the El Camino College debuts as the Warriors scored a 3-0 (25-9, 25-7, 26-24) victory over Glendale on Friday night at the ECC Gymnasium.

The pair of newcomers each recorded double-doubles for the Warriors as Nielsen led all players with 14 kills and 13 digs while Griffiths dished out 20 assists with 10 digs and also dropped eight service aces with just two errors.

Overall, the Warriors offense was blistering hot all night as they finished with a .340 kill percentage, smashing down 45 kills with just 11 errors on 100 swings on the night. Payton Garrison also recorded double-figures with 10 kills and led the team with a .500 hitting percentage, making just one error on 18 swings.

Perla Lopez added 14 assists while Aireon Scott added seven kills on a .429 hitting percentage to go along with three aces.

For the Vaqueros, Karina Biel led the way with seven kills and Vahya Arakelian dished out 10 assists in the loss.

The Warriors jumped out to a 2-0 lead, holding the Vaqueros to single digits in both games. But the third set was more of a grind as the Vaqueros outhit the Warriors .333 to .304 but the Warriors still tallied more kills (18) than the visitors (10).

Biel smacked six of her eight kills on 11 swings in the third set to keep the Vaqueros in the mix but Nielsen blasted down seven of her kills in the frame.

The Warriors service game was also on point as they dropped in 15 service aces on the night including the match-clinching point off Alyssa Estrada's service. She tallied two aces overall.

The Warriors will get right back to work on Saturday with a trip to Bakersfield to play a pair of matches. They take on Santa Barbara at 10 a.m. and then face the host Renegades at 2 p.m.