The Long Beach City College women's volleyball went out on a winning note, closing the 2014 season with a marathon 25-23, 20-25, 25-20, 23-25, 16-14 victory over the visiting East Los Angeles College Huskies on Wednesday at LBCC.
In the fifth and deciding set, the Vikings had to hold off a determined East Los Angeles squad. Freshman Chanel Brown (Lancaster HS) took over early for Long Beach, getting four of the Vikings' first six points to give LBCC a 6-3 lead. Long Beach held leads of 10-7 and 12-9 before the Huskies slowly chipped away at the advantage.
With LBCC up 13-11, East Los Angeles' Breanna Trujillo scored three of the next four points with kills to tie up the fifth at 14-14. But a big block by freshmen Helen Maragos (Santa Fe HS) and Stacy Kozlowski (Portland, OR) gave Long Beach match-point before Trujillo's attack error gave the Vikings the victory.
Sophomores Bra'shawnda Byrd (Poly HS), Brianna Ritzius (St. Anthony HS), and Daniela Sanchez (Mayfair HS) all had key roles in the victory as the played their final home matches at LBCC. Byrd led Long Beach with 17 kills, Ritzius posted 20 digs, and Sanchez totaled four aces and six digs.
Brown had 16 kills while Kozlowski posted 12 kills to go with six blocks. Maragos also had a big night for the Vikings with nine blocks, seven kills, and four digs. Freshman Emily Hammond (Brethren Christian HS) totaled 48 assists and 20 digs.
LBCC's back line also got 16 digs from freshman Karissa Pluma (Poly HS) and 11 digs from freshman Megan Evans (Yuba City, CA).
Trujillo led East Los Angeles (12-13, 6-8 SCC) with 25 kills.
Under first-year head coach Trisha Marx, the Vikings compiled an 11-12 overall record and finished fourth in the South Coast Conference at 8-6.
