Cougars Struggle Against El Camino

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. - The College of the Canyons volleyball team was upset 3-1 (28-26, 9-25, 22-25, 13-25) by visiting El Camino College on Wednesday afternoon at the Cougar Cage. The loss marks the first for the Cougars this season, who fall to 2-1 on the season.

Serena LeDuff led COC with 12 kills on 59 attacks (.051), while Lauren Underwood posted nine kills on 39 swings (.026). LeDuff also led the team with 27 digs and Jordan Carter notched 34 assists. 

As a team, the Cougars struggled with 41 kills on 188 swings (.037), the lowest hitting percentage for COC this season. 

The Cougars opened the match falling behind 12-6 after El Camino went on a 6-0 run. Canyons battled back and tied it up at 16-16 after El Camino had a handful of miscues. El Camino was forced to take a timeout as the Cougars took a 21-18 lead. After going back and forth with the lead COC snatched up the first set 28-26.

College of the Canyons fell down early in the second set, 7-0, and couldn't get anything going on either sides of the ball. Canyons could only muster nine points and turned in a set-low nine kills, to drop the second set 25-9. 

Canyons came out to tie the third set at 9-9 on a kill from Sage Hernandez. The Cougars stayed with El Camino and forced the visitors to take a timeout after COC trailed by only one point 19-18. The Warriors came out of the break and scored the next two points. Underwood helped COC come within one point, 23-22, after she punched in a kill, but the Warriors put COC away, 25-22.

Canyons trailed 3-0 in the fourth set, as the team struggled offensively. The Warriors went on a 6-0 run to go up 11-3 in the middle of the set, before COC was forced to take a timeout. The Cougars came out and scored a handful of points, but couldn't stop El Camino from scoring as they closed out the set and match, 25-13. 

Canyons will return to action on Friday, Sept. 13 as they travel to Long Beach City College for a 5 p.m. match.