SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Hosting its first home matches of the season, the SBCC women's volleyball team earned its third straight sweep in a win over Cerro Coso. Several hours later, the Vaqueros fell short of a sixth consecutive victory in a four-set loss to San Diego Mesa.
The Vaqueros are now 5-2 on the year, while Cerro Coso fell to 0-3 and San Diego Mesa improved to 4-1.
SBCC vs. Cerro Coso
Opening the day against the Coyotes, the Vaqueros got out to a strong start with a 25-11 opening set win before closing the sweep out in much tighter fashion, 25-23 and 25-21.
"Against a scrappy defensive team, we battled through three sets with middle Karoline Ruiz leading the way with a dominant 11 kills on 15 attempts," head coach Kat Niksto said. "Piper Elbogn-Petersen led the way from the service line with five aces while opposite Bella sparked the team with her big kills."
Ruiz led the Vaqueros with 11 kills on a season-best .667 hitting percentage. Johnson meanwhile added five kills (.400) and Lily Krongold finished with six.
Outside hitter Elbogn-Petersen added nine digs to go along with her five aces. Emma Crabbe recorded three aces to help SBCC to a season-best 12.
Libero Jacelin McKie posted a team-high 16 digs. Five Vaqueros tallied a single block in the match.
SBCC vs. San Diego Mesa
Against San Diego Mesa, Santa Barbara dropped the opening set 25-17 before tying things at 1-1 with a 25-18 second set. However, the Olympians cruised to wins in sets three and four of 25-17 and 25-15.
"It was fun to play such a high level match against a very balanced SD Mesa team," Niksto said. "All three of our defensive players (Jacelin, Jordyn, and Lauren) stepped up their passing game in serve receive. Bella and Lily led the team in kills on each pin, while middle Paige made her presence felt on the court with six kills, two blocks and two aces. Overall, we learned a lot from the match and plan to work hard in practice to make needed adjustments."
Lily Krongold and Bella Johnson tied for team-high honors with eight kills apiece. Paige Rudi and Emma Crabbe backed them up with six kills each.
Aces were wild in the second match of the day, as the Olympians finished with a 13-8 advantage.
Jacelin McKie reached the 20-dig mark for the first time as a Vaquero. Paige Rudi tallied two blocks to lead SBCC at the net.
Next Up
SBCC returns to the road for its next three matches, beginning with a trip to Fullerton on Wednesday, Sept. 8 at 6:00 p.m. Masks will be required for spectators planning to attend.
