Owls Move to .500 in WSC East Play With Home Victory Over Santa Monica

Glendora, CA - The Citrus College Volleyball team moved to .500 in Western State Conference East Division play on Wednesday evening. The Owls rallied after a sloppy first set to run away with the next three in a 17-25, 25-10, 25-19, and 25-19 win over visiting Santa Monica College. 

 The Owls would jump out to a seemingly strong early in lead in the opening set, leading 6-2 after an ace by sophomore Paige Madkin. Things quickly unraveled for the Owls however as they watched the Corsairs embark on a 12-3 run that saw the score flipped to 14-9 in favor of the Corsairs. Citrus would pull to within two, three times midway through the set, but the Corsairs closed things out on a 9-3 run.

Citrus once again had a fantastic start in the second set, and this time they hung on to the lead. back-to-back kills by freshman Leah Price and a pair of attack errors by Santa Monica would give Citrus an early 7-1 lead. Santa Monica would never get closer than five points the rest of the way, as Citrus cruised to the set victory evening the match up at one set a piece.

In the third, Santa Monica rallied from their tough second set and it was a back and forth affair for the first eight points, until the Owls scored nine unanswered getting three kills by sophomore Lauren Valenciana, another from Price and three aces from freshman Amanda Belzl during the stretch. The Corsairs would pull to within a couple of scores midway through, but the Owls had another late run that helped put the game away. Price would put the exclamation point on things with the set winning kill. 

The fourth set would stay closer till much later in the set. The set would be tied at 12 all midway through until a small run by the Owls put them up 16-12 after Valenciana and Madkin kills and an ace by sophomore Zhari Johnson, along with a Corsairs error along the way. Santa Monica would respond with its own run though and jump back in front 18-16. 

Trailing for really the first time since the first set, Citrus didn't fold but instead responded in a big way. A service error by the Corsairs would lead to a 9-1 run by the Owls to close out the set and match. Freshman Briana Voght pounded home three kills on the run, while Madkin added two more, while freshman Marissa Underwood chipped in with an ace.

In the win, Voght led all players with a match high 12 kills, doing say while committing just one error on 20 attempt. Price would add 11, with Madkin recording nine and Valenciana six. Valenciana would add a team high two assist blocks, while Underwood finished with a match high 16 digs.

With the win, Citrus improves to 4-17 overall and 2-2 in WSC East play. The Owls will take a break from conference action on Friday before resuming next Wednesday when they begin the second half of their WSC East slate. Citrus opens that up in Victorville where they'll take on Victor Valley College at 6:00 PM.