CARSON, Calif. -- Sarah Risser's hammer was on target Thursday night.
The Seattle Pacific junior outside hitter had 17 kills, and fellow junior Joelle Perez came up big on both offense and defense as the Falcons swept Cal State Dominguez Hills in the opening match of the Southern California Classic volleyball tournament.
After leading most of the way through the first two games, Seattle Pacific came from behind and fought off two game points in the third game to finish the sweep of the Toros, 25-20, 25-19, 28-26.
Risser, a junior (Santa Barbara, Calif.) hit .361 for the match for Seattle Pacific (1-0). Perez (Vancouver, Wash./Heritage HS) had a double-double of 18 assists and 12 digs.
“Sarah was absolutely outstanding. She played solid the whole match,” SPU coach Chris Johnson said. “And it was a great night for Joelle. She was battling a lot of pain in her foot, and played great anyway. She had good sets, made good decisions and got some real good digs.”
Amber Johnson (Mount Vernon, Wash./Mount Vernon HS), who transferred to SPU this year after playing at Whatcom Community College in Bellingham last season, had four solo blocks, three block assists and seven kills, hitting .778.
“That was an absolutely phenomenal debut for her,” Chris Johnson said of his sophomore newcomer. “She was all kinds of good and brought all kinds of energy to the court.”
Sophomore Priscilla Collings (Chula Vista, Calif.) also added seven kills for the Falcons (1-0). Sophomore libero Anna Herold (Bothell, Wash./Shorecrest HS), who set a single-season digs record last fall for the Falcons with 579, had 17 more in Thursday's opener.
Seattle Pacific resumes play in the tournament tonight at 7 at 20th-ranked Cal State Los Angeles. That match will be shown live on the Internet and can be seen by clicking on this link.
After a slow start, Seattle Pacific had things mostly its way through the first two games in the Torodome.
Down 7-4 in the first game, the Falcons went on a 12-1 scoring tear, including eight points in a row to snap an 8-8 tie and take command, 16-8. Dominguez Hills responded with a 10-2 run of its own to make 18-18 before SPU went back in front to stay.
Seattle Pacific never trailed in Game 2, building a 6-1 lead and never letting the Toros get closer than two points after that.
But the Toros were in control for most of the third game, leading by as many as four points, the last time at 20-16. Twice, they had a chance to serve out the game. But a Dominguez Hills attack errors helped lift SPU into a 24-24 tie, then a kill by sophomore Lindsey Wodrich (Richland, Wash./Richland HS) wiped out a 25-24 Toros lead.
Dominguez Hills fought off a Seattle Pacific match point at 26-25. But the Falcons took advantage of back-to-back Toros errors to take the final two points and secure the win.
“There were parts that were really good, and parts we still need to work on,” Johnson said. “We need to serve and pass better. … Thankfully, our offense did really well on the passes that were there.”
Seattle Pacific hit .259 for the match, including .323 in the first game and .324 in the second. Dominguez hit just .057.
NCAA Volleyball
Southern California Classic
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Torodome/Carson, Calif.
Seattle Pacific 3, Cal State Dominguez Hills 0
Game scores -- 25-20, 25-19, 28-26.
Service aces -- SPU: Kylie Johnson 2. CSUDH: Madison Horsley 2, Sara Murray 2.
Kills -- SPU: Sarah Risser 17, Amber Johnson 7, Priscilla Collings 7. CSUDH: Ashley Clark 14, Samantha Maxwell 7.
Blocks -- SPU: A. Johnson 7, Paige Hoffman 2, Kylie Johnson 2. CSUDH: Ashley Davison 2.
Assists -- SPU: Joelle Perez 18, Cortney Weedman 14. CSUDH: Rebekah Wolfgramm 18, Cassidy Mangum 11.
Digs -- SPU: Anna Herold 17, Joele Perez 12. CSUDH: Sara Murray 14, Horsley 12.
Attendance -- 116.
Records
Seattle Pacific 1-0, 0-0.
Cal State Dominguez Hills 0-1, 0-0.
Next match -- Seattle Pacific at Cal State Los Angeles, Friday, 7 p.m.
