Citrus Digs Deep for Five-Set Win

Citrus College had to battle Wednesday and dug deep to pull out a five-set victory over Antelope Valley College.

The Owls improve to 8-9 on the year and 3-3 in the Western State Conference-South, while the Marauders drop to 5-7 overall, 2-5 WSC.

Delaney Tate led the Owls with 21 kills on a .245 attack percentage, while also picking up 21 digs on defense. Faith Evaro and Kalin Greene each added another 10 kills as Maritza Sanchez posted 45 assists to fuel the offense. Alexis Aguayo finished with 16 digs and Evelyn Enriquez added another 13 on defense.

After dropping the first set 25-22, Citrus came out fired up in the second. The Owls opened the set with four-straight points, sparked by back-to-back kills from Tate.

AVC tried to keep it close, but the Owls kept pressing and built up a seven-point lead, 10-3, capped by a double block from Destiny Guzman and Brianna Lopez.

Citrus created more distance, jumping out to a double-digit lead, 19-8, to force an AVC timeout. The Marauders managed to pull within five, but the Owls grabbed the 25-18 set victory.

Despite building another significant lead in the third, AVC battled back to win the set 26-24 to take a 2-1 upper hand in the match.

Citrus shook it off and once again built itself a lead, 12-4, with Gabriella Aguilar at the service line. Aguilar had three aces in a 5-0 run.

AVC clawed its way back within two, 22-20, to force an Owl timeout. The regrouping worked as Citrus scored the next three points – including another ace from Aguilar – to take the set and force a deciding fifth.

With momentum in their favor, the Owls scored six consecutive points to jump out to a 12-4 lead. Citrus didn't look back from there as it grabbed a 15-8 victory to take the match.

The Owls head to Bakersfield College on Friday for a 6:00 p.m. match.