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Men’s Volleyball Opens Season with Scrappy Win over Golden West

Photo by Ny'Azha Anderson
Photo by Ny'Azha Anderson

TORRANCE, Calif. – El Camino College had to make a pair of comebacks in its 3-0 (26-24, 26-24, 25-23) victory over visiting Golden West Wednesday night at the ECC Gym Complex.

The Warriors (1-0) trailed by seven points late in the first set and five points in the second set but managed to claw back and take both games, eventually scoring the sweep over the Rustlers (0-1) in the 2020 season opener.

Sophomore Gabriel Vargas-Featherstone led the Warriors with 13 kills on 43 swings while Dane Johnson and Connor Oliver each added eight kills on the night. Tommy Fraker dished out 30 assists with six digs while Vargas-Featherstone and Tucker Merritt each recorded four blocks.

Nathan Goode led the Rustlers with 14 kills and Mike Sofley added 13 while Brendin Chandler had 32 assists in the loss.

The Warriors were down 22-15 in the opening frame before the team woke up and started their comeback. Vargas-Featherstone and Oliver scored consecutive kills on Fraker's serve to shave the deficit to 22-17. Three straight attacking errors by the Rustlers brought ECC within two points and then Vargas-Featherstone hammered down another kill to make it 22-21.

The Rustlers would commit two more attacking errors with another kill from Vargas-Featherstone sandwiched in between, capping off the 8-0 run for ECC to give the Warriors a 23-22 lead.

The teams traded points until Johnson smacked down a kill to break a 24-24 tie and then Merritt planted an ace on his serve to secure the set for ECC and a 1-0 lead.

In the second, the Warriors trailed 21-16 before putting together an 8-2 scoring run to take a 24-23 lead. After the Rustlers tied it, the Warriors again polished off the set with a kill from Merritt followed by an attacking error by Goode to give ECC the 2-0 lead.

The Warriors jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the third, their best start in any game of the match. But the Rustlers once again fought back and held a late lead with a 23-21 advantage after an attacking error by Vargas-Featherstone.

But the Rustlers would not score again as ECC scored four straight points, three coming off Golden West miscues to secure the sweep.

The Warriors will return to action this weekend as they participate in the Orange Coast College Quad hosted by the Pirates. They will open things up against the host Pirates at 1 p.m. on Saturday followed by a 3 p.m. matchup against Irvine Valley.