Women's Volleyball Take Down the Dons

Huntington Beach, CA  ­‑ Golden West women's volleyball team remained victorious at home after a 3-0 sweep of visiting Santa Ana College in an Orange Empire Conference match. The Rustlers, in the midst of a five-game winning streak, have been tough at home thus far, not giving up a single set.

Golden West (7-1, 3-0)  cruised through the match in just 67 minutes en route to a 25-9, 25-14, 25-20 victory. The Rustlers were paced by sophomore Cassidy Paperny and freshman Jasmine Gonzalez. Paperny had a team-high 10 kills with four digs and two blocks. Gonzalez (Long Beach Millikan High) had nine kills with eight digs and a team-high four aces. Sophomore Kate Stanjevich had 12 assists and seven digs, sophomore Baileigh Graham had a team-high 14 digs, freshman Ashleigh Atsaros (Huntington Beach High) had six kills and a block and sophomore Akimi Fujikara added 12 assists, two digs and an ace. 

In the first set, Golden West went on a 10-3 run to pull away. Gonzalez had the hot hand, as she served six consecutive points during the run.

The Rustlers opened the second set on a 5-1 run to build a lead. Santa Ana scored 9 of the next 19 points to pull within six points at 15-9, but Golden West went on a 10-5 run to close out the set. 

In the third set, Paperny served six consecutive points to give the Rustlers an early 9-4 lead. Freshman Kayelyn Nunez (Marina High) served six straight points to extend Golden West's lead as the Rustlers held a 20-12 lead. Santa Ana mounted a small rally before Golden West closed out the match.

The Rustlers return home at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 5 with a conference match against Irvine Valley College.