Lifting the lid on the Orange Empire Conference (OEC) campaign, the host Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers dropped their opener to the visiting Golden West College (GWC) Rustlers, 3-1, losing by the set (game) scores of 16-25, 26-24, 25-16, and 25-17, at RCC's Catharine Huntley Gymnasium Friday night.
In the first game/set, GWC (6-3, 1-0 in OEC) never trailed as it broke a 3-3 tie and posted leads of 7-3, 11-4, and 18-9, before cruising to the 25-16 win. The Rustlers hit .233 (ten kills, three attack errors), while the Tigers could manage only .083 (11 kills, eight errors).
The second set saw scoring streaks from both teams. The Tigers (7-5, 0-1 OEC) built leads of 14-9 and 18-12, before the Rustlers caught them at 24-24. A kill by sophomore outside hitter Robyn Miller (Riverside / La Sierra HS) and a GWC attack error gave RCC a 26-24 win.
In the third set, GWC regrouped to keep RCC at bay. The Rustlers led from the start, logging leads of 6-1 and 20-14. In between, the Tigers clawed their way back to within 12-10 and 16-14 before GWC scored five of the next seven points for the 25-16 win. GWC hit .323 (13 kills), while RCC hit only .036 (seven kills).
The fourth set GWC saw continue its fine play, leading from start to finish. The Rustlers posted leads of 6-1, 11-4, and 23-14, before closing out the match with the 25-17 win. Both teams hit well: GWC at .333 (16 kills, five errors) and RCC at .296 (ten kills, two errors).
After splitting a pair of OEC matches versus RCC last season, GWC leads in the all-time series, 44-3.
Freshman middle blocker Bethanee Boggs (Palm Springs / Cathedral City HS) led GWC with a match-high 16 kills (only four errors) on 27 attempts for a lofty .444 attack percentage. Sophomore setter Klaire Blasco (Monterrey, MEXICO), a transfer from Pasadena City College, racked up a match-high 40 set assists and added nine digs. In the "one that got away" department, freshman middle blocker Nicole Greenway (Riverside / M.L. King, Jr. HS) added 11 kills and a team-high 12 digs.
Golden West returns to action on Wednesday, Oct. 5, at 6 p.m. as they host the Irvine Valley College Lasers.
