The Rio Hondo women’s volleyball team recovered from a hard fought home loss against the number one team in the conference, Mt. San Antonio College, as they traveled to the city of Wilmington to earn another conference win against LA Harbor College Oct. 12.

The Lady Roadrunners looked to protect their home court against a powerhouse squad in Mt. San Antonio College, a team that has only lost one game this season and is undefeated in conference play. But Rio Hondo came up short and lost the match 3-1.

Rio Hondo lost the first game 25-15, but bounced back and won the second game 25-19.

The Lady Roadrunners then looked to take a commanding 2-1 lead in the match nearly completing a comeback, but fell short and lost the third game 23-25.

Trying to force a fifth game, Rio Hondo competed throughout but lost the fourth game 25-18

Outside hitter, Paula Alferez, led the Roadrunners with 12 kills, carrying most of the offensive load for Rio Hondo.

Left back Carleigh Cruz led with a total of 11 digs. Erica Gumz led Mt. SAC with 12 kills while Alexandria Peterson had 21 digs.

“We had moments of excellence, but we had a lot of unforced errors that gave Mt. SAC a good element of momentum,” said coach Teddi Esko, “In the practice setting, we’re going to get back to basics with good first contact ball work.”

The adjustments made were definitely apparent in the next game as they faced LA Harbor College, who currently sits at a 3-14 record. Rio Hondo lost the first game 25-21 then won the next game 25-19 and never looked back as they won three straight games and moved on to a solid 2-2 record in conference play.

Rio Hondo will face the Cerritos College Falcons at home this Wednesday as they look to improve to 3-2 in conference play and 9-6 on the season. These past two conference wins have been an indication that Rio Hondo is more than capable of competing in the South Coast Conference.