Gauchos breeze past Hawks

The Saddleback women's volleyball team evened its record in the Orange Empire Conference with a three-set victory over Santiago Canyon College on Friday in Orange.  The Gauchos swept past the Hawks 25-17, 25-20 and 25-12 to climb within a half game of fourth place.

Saddleback has four matches remaining on the schedule after Friday night and couldn't afford a slip-up against the last place Hawks if they were going to make a run at the Southern California Regional Playoffs.  The Gauchos delivered a quick knockout blow, downing the Hawks and now setting their sites on two critical matches this coming week.

Saddleback received 19 kills from Julia Brown and 29 assists from Kiana Camargo, boasting a .413 hitting percentage on Friday.  They also received eight service aces, including three from Natalie Abboud.

Saddleback is now 7-11 overall and 6-6 in Orange Empire Conference play following the win.  The Gauchos are one-half game behind both Fullerton College and Riverside City College in the OEC standings.

Saddleback can gain some ground on the field this week as they travel to Cypress College on Wednesday and host Riverside City College on Friday.  The Gauchos defeated Cypress (3-2) earlier in the season and fell to RCC (0-3).  Both match times are scheduled for 6:00 PM.