Gauchos dogged at home by Huskies

Saddleback dropped a non-conference match to visiting East Los Angeles College on Wednesday night, 3-0, despite long rallies between the two evenly-matched teams.

The Gauchos fell to 2-5 in non-conference matches and have just over a week to get ready for the start of Orange Empire Conference play when they host Orange Coast College on Friday, October 2, for a 6:00 p.m. match.

The first two sets were nearly a draw as the teams were tied at 17-17 in each set, and again at 21-21 in the second set, before East Los Angeles would edge forward for 25-22 and 25-23 victories in those sets, respectively.

Being down two sets seemed to take the fight and the focus out of the Gauchos as their return of serve faltered down the stretch.

Freshman middle blocker Alyssa Stoffel and sophomore Allison Pina each had two key blocks in the first two sets to energize the team early and sophomore Kaylee Douglass was able to attack with some consistency from the back row as she led the team with 11 kills, but Saddleback's struggles in getting a good pass off the Huskies' serve spelled doom.

After opening conference play with Orange Coast, Saddleback will travel to Santa Ana for a 7:00 p.m. match on October 7 and then visit Golden West College on Friday, October 9, before returning home to host Riverside City College on Wednesday, October 14.