Canyons Competes at Cerritos Invitational, Earns No. 14 State Ranking

The College of the Canyons women's volleyball team is the No. 14 ranked team in the state after a weekend in which the Lady Cougars posted a 4-1 record at the annual Cerritos College Invitational tournament held Sept. 9 to 10. 

Canyons (5-1) is also the No. 8 ranked team in Southern California according to the first statewide top-25 coaches poll released earlier this week.

COC began the weekend with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-14) win over Porterville College, before defeating L.A. Harbor College 3-0 (25-12, 25-18, 25-16).

Day one of the tournament was capped by a riveting 3-2 (22-25, 15-25, 25-17, 25-21, 15-13) win over San Diego City College that put Canyons in contention for the tournament title.

Emily Burns recorded a team-high 40 kills over the first three games, including 16 against San Diego. Sam Nua and Daniella Villano each had 24 kills apiece over the three games, while setter Rachel Perez finished with116 assists, good for an average of nearly 39 per game.

COC's most dominant team performance of the day came against L.A. Harbor with the Cougars combining for a .474 team kill percentage while tallying 18 aces. Sophomore Erica Tzic posted six aces in that contest. 

On Saturday, Canyons continued its winning ways with a 3-0 (15-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-15) victory over Cuesta College in the morning game. Once again, it was Burns and Nua leading the way, with the two freshman combining for 25 kills in the match. 

But the Cougars' run came to an eventual end with a 3-1 (15-25, 16-25, 25-18, 17-25) loss to No. 7 Cypress College later in the day. Canyons received double-digit kill totals from Burns (13), Nua (12) and Villano (10) but was not able to overcome a Chargers team that registered 11 aces and saw the Cougars commit 22 attacking errors.

Canyons will next face No. 2 Grossmont College at 1 p.m. on Friday in the opening round of the El Camino College Quad Tournament. COC is also slated to face No. 14 San Diego Mesa College in game two at 3 p.m. on Friday.

 —Jesse Munoz/COC Sports Information