SANTA BARBARA, CA – The Santa Barbara City College Women's Volleyball team swept Bakersfield College Friday night at home. It was the Vaqueros last tune-up before conference play begins next week.
The Vaqueros have played well of late, now winning 3 out of their last 4 matches. Even the lone loss could have gone either way, coming in a 5-set match at Santa Monica where they lost the fifth set 12-15.
On Friday night's match, head coach Kat Niksto said, "We came out motivated and with a game plan, and I am so proud of how well the team executed on all phases. We passed well, which allowed us to be in system most of the night, and our hitters feasted with an overall team hitting percentage of .345%."
Regarding the passing, setters Natalie Lercari-Sullivan and Sophie Ward once again ran the offense smoothly, with 15 and 18 assists. Ward even had a couple high volleyball IQ kills, catching the Bakersfield defense napping and firing up her teammates.
In set one, the Vaqueros showed their prowess, cruising to a 25-14 victory. Like Niksto mentioned, the team executed well on all phases, particularly in the opening set. SBCC limited errors and played crisply, making themselves a tough out.
The second set went back and forth—Bakersfield went on a short run to begin the set before Santa Barbara tied the score midway through. Later in the set, the score was again tied 19-19, before the Vaqueros pulled away to win 25-22. It was a good sign for SBCC, who have won their first sets comfortably before losing the second sets in their last two losses.
Set three, looking for a sweep, the Vaqueros had no letdown. Bakersfield kept things competitive for a short while, but the persistent Vaqueros continued to avoid runs of errors. Finishing strong, SBCC won the last set 25-17, and the match 3 sets to none.
Kira Little had a great match, leading the team with 11 kills. Chaya Clemons and Heidi Collins followed with 8 and 7 hitting .429% and .500% respectively.
Libero Gabby Russell continued her excellent defensive season with 19 digs. Russell's digs totals over the last 4 matches: 26, 14, 20, 19.
"We begin conference play next week meaning everyone is 0-0, but we are fired up by a big win over a solid program leading us into the most important play of the season," Niksto concluded.
SBCC begins conference play on Wednesday night at LA Mission before returning home on Friday at 6:00 PM against Moorpark.
