Women’s Volleyball: Rio Hondo’s hot start continues with win over SDCC

Women’s Volleyball: Rio Hondo’s hot start continues with win over SDCC

The Rio Hondo College women's volleyball team continued its impressive run to start the season. On Wednesday, the Roadrunners improved to 6-1 overall after a 3-1 win over visiting San Diego City College.

Rio Hondo won the match by scores of 25-19, 25-23, 23-25, 25-21 for its fourth consecutive victory. According to head coach Teddi Esko, the 6-1 start is the best in her 16 years leading the program.

"I'm very proud of this team," said Esko following Wednesday's win. "They have been working very hard in training and it's showing in our matches. I love seeing their growth."

Sophomore Danielle Betancourt and Nicole Vasquez both had huge matches in helping lead Rio Hondo to the victory. Betancourt hit .481 for the match with 14 kills and added four solo blocks. Vasquez hit .303, notching 13 kills, 12 digs, and two aces.

Freshman Alino Velo also had an efficient night, slamming down seven kills with a .357 hitting percentage.

"Our goal for this week was to improve our offense," said Esko. "We focused a lot on this aspect of our game in training on Monday and Tuesday. And we achieved our goal with hitting a team .254 percentage. This is the best team hitting percentage we've had this season so far." 

The Roadrunners also got big contributions from sophomore Aliah Trujillo and Janine Coria. Trujillo totaled 40 assists, 15 digs, and four aces while Coria posted 16 digs, three assists, and an ace.

Esko also pointed out the clutch play of sophomore Katherina O'Brien. She entered the match in the fourth set with the score tied at 22 and right away came up with a huge kill.

"This fueled our momentum to close out the match," said Esko.

O'Brien had three kills and hit .400 for the match.

The Roadrunners face a big test when they return to action next Wednesday (Sep. 18) when they play at No. 15 state-ranked San Diego Mesa College. The non-conference match is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start.