SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Santa Ana volleyball team took a tough loss in Orange Empire Conference play on Wednesday night, falling to Santiago Canyon College 3-1 (25-20, 19-25, 24-26, 17-25)
The Dons got off to a good start with a 25-20 win in the first set. SAC leaned on Ashly Hernandez and Myrandah Zepeda for offense as the freshmen combined for five kills in the set.
In the second, Santiago Canyon fought back to even the score at 1-1, outscoring the Dons 25-19.
After going down by as much as five (17-12) in the third set, the Dons came back to push the Hawks to the brink with set point at 24-21. But a 5-0 run from SCC resulted in a 26-24 loss to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead.
Santiago Canyon secured the 3-1 victory as they fought off a pesty SAC team to win the fourth set, 25-17.
The season series between the two teams ends in a tie at 1-1, dropping Santa Ana's record to 4-13, 1-8.
Despite the loss, SAC had some big performances as Myrandah Zepeda picked up a double-double with 17 kills, 13 digs, two assists and an ace.
Ally Wardlow posted another 20 plus dig night, giving her 311 on the season, which leads the Orange Empire Conference. She finished with 26 digs, four assists, a kill and an ace.
Ashly Hernandez and Elizabeth Merold also had decent nights, combining for 13 kills and 13 digs. Most of their sets came from the hands of Courtney Gomez, who recorded a team high 15 assists to go with seven digs.
NEXT UP: The Dons will continue their season on the road against No. 1 ranked Irvine Valley College on Friday, October 25th at 6:00 p.m.
Photos by Viviana Paloma
