PC volleyball sweeps Reedley

Pirate fever is catching on and no wonder with the way the Porterville College volleyball team is playing. But now PC faces a key test in the Central Valley Conference.

A larger crowd than usual for a Wednesday night turned out to watch Porterville dismantle Reedley 25-13, 25-14, 25-12 at PC. Behind the hitting of Amanda Monge, who had 19 kills, and solid serving led by Allison Clem, Porterville (9-4, 2-0) maintained its level of play through all three games against a weaker Reedley opponent. Clem was perfect in her serving, going 24-for-24 with eight aces. “We had an excellent day at the service line,” PC coach Dale Henderson said.

“I’m very pleased with the consistent scoring,” Henderson also said, commenting on the margin of victory that his team has had against weaker opponents in its first two CVC matches. Henderson said the goal has been to maintain that large margin of victory in each game so far.

But it figures to be a much closer match on Friday when PC faces a key CVC showdown at Taft, which is ranked No. 9 in Northern California and No. 24 in the state. Porterville is No. 6 in the North and No. 17 in the state. “We don’t underestimate them,” said Henderson about Taft, which is coming off winning the San Diego Tournament. “We’ll be ready for the test.”
Henderson moved Monge from the middle to the outside to strengthen his team’s attack and the move obviously worked on Wednesday. “It’s really made us more of a threat,” Henderson said. “The chemistry is coming together.”

Monge served for five straight points during a 6-0 run to give PC a 6-1 lead in game one. After Reedley closed to within 9-7, PC pulled away on the strength of Clem’s serving, who served for eight straight points and four aces during a 9-0 run that gave PC a 20-8 lead.
Monge served for six straight points during a 7-0 run that gave PC a 7-2 lead in game two. Clem served for eight straight points during a 9-0 run to give Porterville a 14-4 lead in game three and fittingly Monge put away her 19th kill on match point.

Also for PC, Monge had five digs and three aces, Nayeli Colunga had eight kills and five digs, Sam Sawyer had 31 assists and five digs, Danielle Carrillo had four kills and two assists and Taylor Ball added three kills and two blocks. “I’m very pleased with the effort,” Henderson said.