Riverside Rallies to Grab Five-Set Thriller
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Golden West (10-13, 8-8) | 25 | 25 | 22 | 23 | 11 | 2 |
|
Riverside (16-9, 10-5) | 18 | 20 | 25 | 25 | 15 | 3 |
Riverside City College battled back from down two sets to grab a thrilling five-set victory (18-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-23, 15-11) over Golden West College Friday night.
The Tigers improve to 16-9 on the year and 10-5 in the Orange Empire Conference, while the Rustlers drop to 10-13 overall, 8-8 in conference.
Nicole Barrera led the Tigers with 18 kills on the night, while Jaeda Whitmire followed with 11 kills. Alyssa Bishop dished out 34 assists and Tabitha Irish posted a team-high 21 digs.
After dropping the first two sets, Riverside found itself trailing late in the third, 22-18, but back-to-back kills from Barrera before a solo block from Dani Luna put the Tigers within one and forced GWC to call a timeout.
The break didn't slow the Tigers down, however, as RCC kept the 7-0 run going to take the set 25-22 and keep the match alive.
Riverside followed with a 25-23 victory in the fourth to force a deciding set.
In the fifth, the Rustlers struck first but the Tigers responded with six-straight points to jump out to a 6-1 lead.
RCC kept rolling and reached match point on a block from Whitmire and Luna. Golden West managed to keep the set alive briefly, but Whitmire found a seam to give the Tigers the 15-11 set win and take the match 3-2.
The Tigers close out the regular season at home on Tuesday, hosting Santa Ana College at 6 p.m.