Esther Arroyo sends an attack over in the Dons match with Riverside City College.
Esther Arroyo sends an attack over in the Dons match with Riverside City College.
October 29, 2014

Dons Lose Seesaw Battle with Riverside City College in Four Sets

After an opening set victory, the Dons found themselves in the next two sets before ultimately losing the match in the fourth set.

Box Score

SANTA ANA - The Dons dropped their Orange Empire Conference match to Riverside City College in four sets after an exciting extra-points win in the first set. The first set went to the Dons (4-10, 1-7) 26-24 before the Tigers (6-11, 3-5) won the next three sets 25-20, 25-17 and 25-15.

The first set opened with the visiting Tigers grabbing the first two points before claiming an early 3-1 lead. The Dons battled back, eventually tying the set at 6-6 before taking their first lead at 7-6 on an Iliana Mendoza kill.

However, Riverside City would come back with three-straight points to go up 9-7 before building their lead as large as five points at 17-12. The Dons bounced back with an 8-3 run, capped off by a Mendoza kill, to tie the set at 20-20. Later, an Esther Arroyo block put the Dons at set point at 24-23, but Riverside City wouldn't go down without a fight. After the Tigers tied the set at 24-24, the Dons answered with two straight points, including Zaria Saunders' set-winning ace, to win 26-24.

The Tigers would once again hold an early lead with a 7-2 score to start the second set. Once again, the Dons would come back, pulling within one at 11-10 on a Mendoza kill. However, Riverside City would pull away from there to take a 20-12 lead.

But the Dons had a late run in them, cutting the Tigers lead to four points at 22-18 and again at 24-22, with the latter time coming on back-to-back kills by Arroyo. Unfortunately for the home team, the Tigers were able to stop the rally and win the set 25-20, ultimately tying the match 1-1.

The third set opened with the Dons holding an early 3-1 lead on the strength of two Arroyo blocks before the teams traded the lead several times. After the set was tied at 8-8, the Tigers broke that tie and wouldn't relinquish the lead for the remainder of the set.

The Dons would pull as close as three points at 15-18 after back-to-back Mendoza kills before Riverside City pulled out to a 21-16 lead. Finally, the Tigers closed out the set with a 3-0 run following another Mendoza kill at 22-17 to win the set 25-17.

The Tigers closed out the match in the fourth set after taking control of the set with a 6-0 run after the Dons had jumped out to a 3-1 lead. Arroyo would record a kill to pull the Dons within four at 10-6 before cutting the lead to just three at 12-9 behind a kill and back-to-back service aces.

The next point went to the Dons to pull them within two at 12-10 before the Tigers went on a 9-0 run to break the set open at 21-10. The Dons would get five more points before the set was over but Riverside City went on to the 25-15 victory.