Friday, March 8 the Long Beach City College Vikings swept the Rio Hondo College Roadrunners 5-0 at Granada Beach in each school’s first South Coast Conference match of the season.

The Vikings won all but one set as the Long Beach City threes, Isabella Alvarez and Doris Woods, had a game-low combined nine points allowed.

Alvarez and Woods made quick work of Evelyn Alferez and Janine Coria. But on court two the Roadrunners’ Mara Sanchez and Stephanie Perez made sure it wasn’t just another day at the beach for the Vikings. Sanchez and Perez’s 21-15 set 2 win meant the match would go to a third and decisive frame. In the end a shook, but victorious, Kylee Irwin-Paz and Jessica Blakeman managed to secure the win for Beach.

Mostly clear skies meant for the perfect ray of sunshine with the slightest of occasional overcast. The weather made for a bright and crisp morning in Long Beach but winds were a factor.

“Rough conditions, wind was hard to manage the ball,” Rio Hondo head coach Teddi Esko said. “However, my Rio athletes competed well and learned a ton.”

Undefeated to start the season in February, March hasn’t been as friendly to the Lady Roadrunners. A bumpy start to March has seen a 5-0 record slip to 5-4 in six days.

Match-ups against conference opponents Mt. San Antonio College and El Camino College are to follow with Esko and the women prepared to bounce back on track as they search of a spot in the SoCal Regionals.

Up next for Rio Hondo Beach will be a trip to El Camino as the Warriors host the Roadrunners at 10 a.m. Friday, March 15. The conference match against the Warriors will be followed by a non-conference meeting against Pasadena City College.