When the bulk of the back-to-back conference championship team left after last season, San Bernardino Valley College women's volleyball coach Robert Vansant knew he was going to have his work cut out for him.

Wednesday evening, the young Wolverines squad showed its youth and inexperience at the college level. But, that same team was able to pull itself together to knock off Rio Hondo College in five sets, 25-14, 20-25, 25-18, 24-26, 15-11. It was the second five-set win in a row for SBVC.

The Wolverines looked nearly unstoppable in the first set, converting nine of their 24 kill attempts in the opener. Setter Emersyn Ebel was at the service line when SBVC went on a six-point run, opening an early 8-2 lead. 

In the second, SBVC was flat-footed, losing the game's first five points. The Wolverines rallied by scoring the next four points, but a mid-set lull sent the Wolverines down by as many as nine points at one point. A late rally wasn't enough, giving Rio Hondo the second set. 

The teams switched sides again, and their fortunes changed again. This time, Ashlee Zimmer was at the service line when SBVC went on a six-point run early to take a 11-5 lead before closing out the third set. SBVC had a chance to close out in the fourth, leading 23-20 before the Roadrunners came back and had a chance to close out at 24-23, before finally winning it 26-24.

SBVC again took a lead in the deciding set, initiating the side change leading 8-4. Rio Hondo got back within one, trailing 11-10, when with Cielo Rodriguez at the service line, the Wolverines ran off three straight points before finishing it off 15-11.

Devi'arre Lucas once again led the SBVC attack with 16 kills to go with 11 digs, while Tamia Hardwick added 14 more with two solo blocks. Ebel had 37 assists and five aces for the Wolverines, while libero Ava Avila also registered five aces with 20 digs.