Rio Hondo College defeats Mt. San Antonio 3-1 in a conference game on Wednesday, October 25, at RHC gym. Number 12, Maria Bejines had an impressive game with 23 kills. It was a very tough game for the Roadrunners as the Mounties put up a good fight in every set. With a fantastic home crowd it definitely made for a loud and fun atmosphere for the home team. 

First Set

The Roadrunners took the first set with the score being 25-21. The home team started strong by taking the first set. In the first set RHC looked good not letting Mt. SAC get close to the scoreline.

Second Set

Mt. SAC came out aggressive in the second set. This is where the fight between two teams started. The type of game to see who wanted it the most. Both teams came out going back and forth. The Mounties began to get more technical to catch the Roadrunners off guard. Fighting to push for a lead, the away team took the second set 25-23. 

Third Set

The third set is where both teams pushed the boundaries. Neither of these teams wanted to lose this set. RHC was tested heavily in this set. Mt. SAC kept pushing RHC to their limits. If Roadrunners scored, then the Mounties would respond by scoring back. The third set was where both teams had a scrap trying to get the better of each other. Mt. SAC had a lead of 11-15 at one point looking like they were going to run away with the lead and take the set.

Coach Teddi Esko would call a timeout to talk to her players and get them in the right mindset to not lose this set. RHC came out of that time out and began their comeback. With eventually tying the 18-18 that is  where it went down to the wire. The roadrunners took the third set winning it 25-21. The crowd in attendance cheered loudly as the home team took the third set in a hard fought battle. 

Fourth Set

The battle continued until the very end in the fourth set. Mt. SAC did not go down so easily. The Mounties did everything possible to give the Roadrunners trouble. The home team really had to dig deep in their bag to take this set. With both teams running up the score line, Number 12 Maria Bejines came up huge for RHC scoring the last points to help give the Roadrunners the win in the fourth and final set with the score being 25-19. The final score was 3-1 with a big win for RHC. 

Superintendent President for RHC  Dr. Marilyn Flores was in attendance alongside Board of Trustees member Rosaelva Lomeli. “That was a tough match but we knew in the end that Rio got it. We are really proud of our volleyball team,” Dr. Flores shared her thoughts on the game. “We can’t be any more proud than to see the scores and stats up there,” Dr. Flores speaking about the women’s volleyball team. “It’s so much fun! I think that the girls are so skilled and it is wonderful to watch them. It is just great to see them play,” Board of Trustee member Lomeli explained why she loves to attend the women’s volleyball team. 

Coach Esko’s thoughts on the game

After the game Coach Esko shared her thoughts on the tough win over Mt. SAC. “From this point on, we kind of established a solid first place position. We are 11 and 1 in the conference right now. So we got a big target on our back. Everybody we compete against is going to want to bring their A game, they are going to want to take us down. It is going to be a matter of how we respond to that. We got to keep getting better, we got to keep growing and we are going to be playing the best volleyball against everybody,” Coach Esko on what she expects from every team they face.