COMMUNITY COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Golden West Is Up, Down, Finally on Top

Golden West showed why it’s the top-ranked women’s volleyball team in California Tuesday, but also revealed why Coach Albert Gasparian has said this season “is like being on a roller coaster.”

Golden West (21-2) beat Santa Monica in five games in the Southern California playoffs, but it was hardly a consistent effort.

The Rustlers, the top-seeded team in the playoffs, cruised in the first game, 15-3, and it looked as if the match would be over quickly. But Santa Monica opened a 12-3 lead and finally won the second game, 18-16. The eighth-seeded Corsairs moved within a game of a major upset by dominating the third, 15-4, as Golden West’s defense fell apart.

Facing elimination, the Rustlers played as well as they have all season and won the final two games, 15-2, 15-1.

It was the 60th consecutive home victory for the Rustlers, who have won four of the last five State titles, including the last two.

With the victory, Golden West moves on to the State tournament, which starts Friday at Cerritos and Cypress colleges.

“Sometimes we just completely check out,” Gasparian said. “If we expect to do well at the State tournament we’ll have to eliminate those letdowns.”

Jessica Redding had 14 kills, Mary Luhrs added 13 and Tina Bowman and Ursula Luna each had eight for Golden West.

Luna also had eight aces, including two as she served for six consecutive points to start the fifth game.

Beth Rosen had 44 assists for Golden West, which meets Sacramento City at 8 p.m. in the double-elimination State tournament Friday at Cerritos. Long Beach and American River meet at 6 also at Cerritos.