No. 14 Canyons Takes Down West L.A. as Sophomores Shine

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director

No. 14 College of the Canyons continued its journey toward an undefeated conference schedule with a 3-0 win over visiting West L.A. College during 'Sophomore Night' at the Cougar Cage on Wednesday. Set scores were 25-23, 25-13, 25-21.

Prior to first serve the Cougars honored the program's 14 sophomore players during a brief ceremony. With the stands packed with family, friends and supporters COC played to a dominating win over the Wildcats.

Canyons (17-7, 11-0) extended its streak to 12 straight matches, currently tied for the fourth longest span in the state. The victory also extended the Cougars' win streak against Western State Conference (WSC), South Division opponents to 17 matches dating back more than a year to the 2021 season.

COC has now defeated West L.A. (11-11, 6-5) in 26 straight meetings with 24 of those victories coming via sweep. 

The Cougars are on the hunt for the program's first undefeated conference run since the 2015 season. That season Canyons advanced to the CCCAA State Championship tournament, which was hosted at the Cougar Cage.

Sophomore Aly Grodell put on a show with 14 kills on a .722 hitting night and was active at the net with two blocked shots and a pair of block assists. Freshman Kaelyn White was also a force with 11 kills and a pair of aces on the night. 

Brianna Botello was next with six kills in her final regular season match at the Cougar Cage. Jordan Nunez finished the match with 27 assists and Sabrina Sveiven led with 12 digs. 

Canyons hit a combined .308 on the night with eight aces and 11 total blocks. The win moved the Cougars home court record to 8-2 on the season.

Top Performers

• Brianna Botello — 3 SP, 6 K, 2 BA
• Aly Grodell — 3 SP, 14 K, 2 BS, 2 BA, .722
• Jordan Nunez — 3 SP, 27 A, K, 5 digs
• Sabrina Sveiven— 3 SP, 3 A, 2 SA, 12 digs
• Kaelyn White — 3 SP, 11 K, 2 SA, BS, 3 digs, .381

Upcoming Schedule
Canyons will close out the conference schedule with a trip to Antelope Valley College on Friday, Nov. 11. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m.

The conference champion Cougars will then have a road match at No. 5 Ventura College, champions of the WSC, North Division, on Tuesday, Nov. 15 as part of the annual WSC Crossover event.

COC and Ventura (21-1, 9-1) previously met on Sept. 16 at the Cougar Cage with the Pirates able to come away with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-14, 25-15, 25-18). Canyons has since gone on to win 12 of its next 13 games, including the last dozen consecutively.

The two squads also met in the 2021 CCCAA SoCal Regional Playoffs with the Cougars able to storm back from a 2-0 deficit, on the road, to defeat the Pirates 3-2 (19-25, 16-25, 25-22, 25-18, 15-10) and advance to the CCCAA State Championship tournament.

Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. 

—Photo by Mari Kneisel / COC Sports Information