Yogan, Silva lead Pasadena City women's volleyball to 3-1 weekend

CCCAA Women's Volleyball Scoreboard

SANTA BARBARA - The week started with the news that setter Bia Silva was named the CCCWVCA State Player of the Week and it ended with the Pasadena City College women's volleyball team notching consecutive victories over Golden West, Santa Barbara City, and Bakersfield Colleges.

It was a busy week for the Lancers (5-2), who suffered a couple of 3-set losses to two of the region's top teams on the road at Ventura (5-0 record) on Wednesday, and San Diego Mesa (4-1) on Friday in the opening match of the Ventura Pirate Classic.

Against Ventura, the Lancers fell 25-21, 25-18, 25-23, and faced a ferocious Pirates attack that led to a powerful .409 hitting percentage. PCC got 10 kills from Emma Yogan and nine kills, seven assists and six digs by Silva. 

At the Pirate Classic, San Diego Mesa controlled the net, but PCC struggled with 31 errors (22 on attacks), allowing the Olympians to sweep, 25-20, 25-10, 25-14. Ashley Marrone tallied seven kills (hit .312) as the only Lancer to stand out.

Later on Friday, the Lancers played an epic 5-set match v. Golden West, and rallied late in the fifth set to win, 25-9, 25-13, 25-27, 25-20, 15-12. In the fifth set, PCC fell behind 12-7, but after winning sideout, PCC scored the next 7 points behind the serving of Bia Silva to close out an 8-0 run and the match. Silva served an ace for match point. 

It was a tremendous match for the team's only sophomore as Silva came very close to a quadruple-double. The 5-foot-9 talent scored 11 kills, set 23 assists, made nine digs and served an impressive nine aces. Yogan, a 5-10 outside hitter from Washington state, pounded 11 kills, had nine digs and twirled seven aces (the team had 18 overall).

Marrone added 10 kills (hit .320) and nine digs and middle blocker Adriana Pedroza came up big at the net with seven kills (.380) and nine blocks (one solo). Kyley Chang, an opposite, performed eight assisted blocks and five kills while Emily Licon made 15 digs. Ashley Gilbert, a 5-10 middle blocker, also made her presence known with seven kills (.333) and five blocks. Second setter Lindsay Delgadillo set 21 assists and served a pair of aces.

At the Santa Barbara City College Quad tourney on Saturday, Silva nailed a triple-double with 12 kills (.390), 24 assists, and 12 digs while adding five aces, and Yogan was a swinging machine in scoring 18 kills in 49 attempts (.290) as PCC downed the host Vaqueros, 25-19, 20-25, 25-19, 26-24. Makayla Chiechi added 13 digs and Gilbert was outstanding with eight kills (no errors in 14 attempts, .570), 11 digs, three blocks and two aces. 

Pasadena capped the tourney with a tremendous effort in sweeping Bakersfield, last year's South #1 seed (PCC was #2), 25-20, 25-21, 25-18. PCC head coach Mike Terrill decided to switch from his usual 6-2 system to a 5-1 lineup and Silva thrived in the move. She set a season-high 40 assists, had a team-high 14 digs and scored six kills. Her main setting target was Yogan, who ripped 19 kills in 38 attempts (hit .368) and had four aces and nine digs.

Marrone was also solid with 11 kills (.292), Gilbert had seven kills (and three aces) and middle blocker Reese Roper landed five kills. 

The Lancers won't know their initial State Top 25 ranking until tomorrow, but statistically the squad is high in several categories. PCC is second in attack kills, second in set assists, second in aces, second in total points, seventh in digs and 11th in blocks. 

Individually, Silva leads the state in aces with 25, is sixth in kills (71), ninth in total assists, and fifth in scoring points (100.5). Yogan is fourth in the state in kills (89) and fourth in total points (110). 

Silva was recently named the CCCWVCA State Player of the Week. It was her second time winning the award as she was selected also in the opening week of her freshman season in 2021.

PCC hosts Moorpark (2-0) on Wednesday, Sept. 6 in a 6 p.m. match at Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium. The Raiders have dominated the head-to-head series since 1999, winning nine of the last 10 matches v. the Lancers.

(Robert Lewis, Pasadena City Athletics)