With a team comprised of all freshmen except one player, the Cerritos College volleyball team will be facing much more experienced teams throughout the season. In their first match of the year, the young Falcons fell victim to a taller, more experienced Orange Coast College team at home on Wednesday. The Pirates, who won the state championship in 2005 and 2006, defeated the Falcons by a score of 8-25, 5-25, 19-25. Cerritos (0-1) will now host Citrus College on Friday at 5:00 p.m.

    It appeared as though Cerritos would be able to stay close in the first game, but just before they could settle down, Orange Coast broke a close 13-6 game and scored 12 of the final 14 points to post a 25-8 win. Leading the way for the Pirates was sophomore Jessica Brown, who finished with seven kills and a block in the first game and scored the final five points of the game for OCC.

    The Falcons fell behind early in the second game and had no answer for Brown and freshman Briana Fields in the second game, as they combined for four kills and a service ace. By the end of the match, Brown and Fields had combined for 14 kills, three blocks and a service ace. Cerritos did receive three kills in the third game from freshman Sarah Naranjo (Santa Fe HS), while the back row was busy digging the hard kills all night. The Falcons were as close as 14-16 in the third game, but sophomore setter Emily Lyon recorded a pair of service aces and freshman Rachel Freeno was also strong at the net.

    Freshman Angelica Seivers (St. Joseph HS) led the team with 13 digs, while freshman Kristen Trillo (Santa Fe HS) and freshman Samantha Mora (Los Altos HS) chipped in with 12 and 10, respectively. Naranjo led the Falcons with five kills, with freshman Cynthia Andrade (South Gate HS) adding four kills and two blocks.