Paladin

Issue date: 10/9/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Christian Millan [Click to enlarge]

The 19th ranked Vikings [8-2, 1-0] got back on track Friday, Oct. 3 by sweeping East L.A. 25-20, 27-25, 25-16, marking the start of South Coast Conference play.

The impressive victory came just two days after an agonizing five-game defeat at the hands of familiar foe San Diego Mesa, that knocked the Vikes out of the first round of the playoffs in 2007. Perhaps it was a positive for the Vikings to get back on the court without having to ponder the loss.

"We had no choice but to get over it," Coach Suzie Witmer explained. "We had to be ready for conference play."

Her team was indeed ready. The Vikings claimed the first game against East L.A. and used that momentum to cruise to its eighth win in 10 matches. The game also afforded the opportunity for every player to see playing time.

East L.A. offered the Vikes the chance to forget about their disappointing hitting against Mesa, where LBCC converted only 26 kills out of 143 attempts, a .181 average. "You're going to have a hard time winning when you're hitting .181. You want to be closer to .300. We really started off flat and we picked it up too late," Witmer acknowledged. "We had way too many hitting errors, but we were able to regroup and get refocused for the start of conference play."

Outside hitter Maricris Lapaix notched 11 kills and had only one error, while freshman Vanessa Ray added six kills in their first match.

The Vikes face El Camino on the road Friday, Oct. 10 at 6 p.m.

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