WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL: A NEAR PLAYOFF UPSET

The #14 Hornets hit the road against #3 El Camino College on Tuesday night nearly upsetting the Warriors before eventually falling 3-2 (25-19, 24-26, 22-25, 25-20, 15-8) in the first round of the Southern California Regionals.

The win keeps the Warrior's season alive with an overall record of 25-2. They will now host #11 Bakersfield College, who upset #6 Palomar, on Saturday night. The Fullerton (14-9 overall) loss ends another fine season for the Hornet volleyball program which has made the playoffs 14 out of the last 15 years.

The Warriors got off to a hot start easily winning the first set before finding themselves close to being eliminated as Fullerton held an 18-14 lead in the fourth set. But after matching the Hornets 18 points, the Warriors went on a 7-1 run to close out the set and force a deciding fifth set.

In the fifth, it looked very good for the Hornets as they grabbed a quick 5-0 lead, and then the Warrior defense held strong keeping Fullerton to only three sideout points. From there, El Camino went on to win 15-8 advancing the second round.

Once again, FC sophomore Alex Winfield led the Hornets with 17 kills, 12 assists, and 10 digs ending her career at Fullerton College with stellar numbers. Carly Bergen had 33 assists, 7 digs, and 3 aces. Azucena Duarte and Kaylyn Johnson both delivered 10 kills each. Duarte also scooped up 20 digs, while Mikki Sale helped out with 23 digs.

The All-Orange Empire team was announced this week with four Hornets being honored.

Alex Winfield and Azucena Duarte were first team selections, while Mikki Sale and Carly Bergen earned second team honors.

*Photo by Ricardo Zapata

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