Facing a top-15 state-ranked team for the fourth time over their last six matches, the Long Beach City College women's volleyball team suffered a 3-0 South Coast Conference loss to No. 8 Mt. San Antonio College on Friday night at LBCC.
Mt. SAC swept the match by scores of 25-9, 25-20, and 25-13. The loss dropped Long Beach to 5-8 overall and 2-3 in the SCC while the Mounties improved to 12-2 and 4-1 in conference play.
Hitting errors plagued the Vikings throughout the match as LBCC committed 24 unforced mistakes and closed the contest with a -.060 attack percentage.
Mt. SAC opened the match by scoring seven straight points in Game 1 and held its biggest lead of 18-5 before cruising to the win.
Long Beach came back in the second and third games to play more competitive. Trailing 19-13 in Game 2, the Vikings rallied thanks to a kill by freshman outside hitter Danielle Tuitasi and a pair of Mt. SAC hitting errors to get within three points at 19-16. Long Beach also got within three points (21-18) late in the game, but LBCC committed three hitting errors down the stretch and the Mounties held on for the second-game win.
Game 3 was more of the same. Trailing 11-6, Long Beach rallied to get within two points at 13-11. But the Mounties countered with a 7-2 run of its own to jump ahead 20-13 and never look back in completing the sweep.
Tuitasi led Long Beach with nine kills. Sophomore setter Kelsey Dix posted 12 assists and freshman outside hitter Lani Samoa had a match-high 13 digs. Freshman libero Jasmine Solano also chipped in with 12 digs in the loss.
For Mt. SAC, Erica Chavez was a triple-threat, leading her squad with 10 kills, 16 assists, and 11 digs.
Long Beach returns to action on Wednesday (Oct. 19) when it travels to LA Harbor College for a 6 pm conference match.
Photo: Danielle Tuitasi led the Vikings with nine kills in the loss. (Photo by Carlos Verdugo)
