Hawks host Hope here on Saturday

ECS staff report

EL CAJON —– A young San Diego Christian College women’s volleyball team learned a hard lesson about playing away from home.

Despite a stellar 6-1 record on the road, the Hawks were swept on the Arizona segment to their Golden State Athletic Conference schedule, falling over the weekend to 20th-ranked Ottawa University in four sets, along with a 3-set sweep from Arizona Christian.

The good news is that San Diego Christian remains at the top of the GSAC standings entering the second half of conference play. The Hawks open on Friday at Life Pacific to complete the road trip, then return home on Saturday, entertaining Hope International at Salvation Army Gym at 4 p.m.

San Diego Christian (10-5 overall, 5-4 GSAC) has the opportunity to move into the national rankings with a sweep in Arizona over the weekend. Instead, they must join four other contenders to lay catch-up to GSAC leading Ottawa and second-standing Westmont.

Plus, the Hawks hope to avenge an earlier setback to Life Pacific, which is tied with the Hawks and Vanguard for fourth place in an extremely competitive GSAC pennant race.

Last weekend’s matches

At Glendale, Ariz.: Arizona Christian took a 25-23, 25-23, 25-21 decision despite three tight sets.

Hawks middle blocker Celestina Iupeli led with six blocks, then joined two others with six kills.

At Surprise, Ariz.: The following afternoon against Ottawa, the Hawks took the second set to deadlock the match, but the Spirit re-confirmed their national ranking by easily taking the next two sets.

Isabella Marshall, paced SDCC with 10 kills, while Kayli Barrera, led both ballclubs with 19 digs.