After earning a three-set sweep of Antelope Valley College in Friday's season opener, Taft College capped off an impressive weekend with a pair of very different wins at home on Saturday. The Cougars opened the day with its second consecutive sweep of AVC but needed five sets to send Cuesta home with the loss.
TC beat Antelope Valley by scores of 25-17, 25-13, and 25-23 to get going. Freshman Jada Dias had another big match, slamming home a team-best 10 kills to go along with 7 digs.
Serenity Feleti had 7 kills and Kaimana Botelho-Patoc posted 6 kills to contribute on offense. Janae Niutupuvaha led all with 24 digs while Kayla Iwata posted 24 assists and 8 digs.
Taft managed to pull off the marathon win over Cuesta, taking the match by scores of 25-21, 19-25, 25-19, 19-25, 15-13.
Dias was once again the spark on offense, registering season-highs with 17 kills and 21 digs in the match. Over three matches, Dias has totaled 42 kills.
Botelho-Patoc added 10 kills while Niutupuvaha led all with 29 digs. Sophomore Abygail Olejnik also had a good match, chipping in with 18 digs and 8 kills.
Taft, now 3-0, returns to action on Thursday (Mar. 11) when the Cougars travel to Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo for a 5 p.m. match.