Women’s Volleyball: Vikings snap losing streak with five-set win over Ventura

Freshman Chanel Brown (Lancaster HS) posted a match-high 20 kills while sophomore Bra'shawnda Byrd (Poly HS) totaled 17 kills to help lead the Long Beach City College women's volleyball team to a 3-2 win over visiting Ventura College on Wednesday at the Viking Gym.

The marathon 22-25, 25-20, 25-23, 24-26, 15-8 victory snapped Long Beach's four-match losing streak and improved the Vikings to 3-6 overall.

It was an extremely close match throughout, but the drama really settled in during the fourth set. Long Beach jumped out to an early 7-3 advantage and after an ace by sophomore Brianna Ritzius (St. Anthony HS), the Vikings were up 15-12.

But during the entire match, no lead was safe. A kill by Ventura's Tori Hiott and three straight LBCC errors allowed the Pirates to jump ahead 16-15. Long Beach eventually tied the set at 18 and then went on to score five of the next six points to go back in front 23-19. After a kill by Byrd, Long Beach had match point at 24-22.

But Long Beach couldn't close it out.Three consecutive errors by the Vikings gave Ventura a 25-24 lead before an ace by Kirra Drury gave the Pirates the win and forced a deciding fifth set.

In the fifth, Ventura stormed out to a 3-1 lead before Long Beach took over for good. Behind the serving of Ritzius, the Vikings went on to score 10 consecutive points. During the run, Ritzius served up three of her team-high six aces in the fifth to pace the run. Byrd, who closed out LBCC wins with kills in the second and third set, did it once again in the fifth to seal the much-needed victory.

Freshman Emily Hammond (Brethren Christian HS) also had a big night for the Vikings, posting 45 assists to go with 11 digs. Ritzius led LBCC with 16 digs while freshman Helen Maragos (Santa Fe HS) chipped in with four blocks, four aces, and three kills.

For Ventura (5-3), Meghan Lambert led with 15 kills and Cassandra Lacanilao had 16 digs.

Long Beach returns to action on October 3 at 6 p.m. when it hosts Los Angeles Trade-Tech College in both teams' South Coast Conference opener. LBCC will also hold its annual Dig Pink Night as part of the state-wide cancer awareness event.