No. 3 Vaqueros Win Seventh in a Row

By Jimmy Friery

TORRANCE, Calif. – The No. 3 Santa Barbara City College Men's Volleyball team (14-3, 8-1) won their seventh match in a row on Wednesday, a sweep at El Camino (5-12, 2-7). With the 25-17, 25-23, 25-12 victory, the Vaqueros got redemption for an odd five-set home loss against El Camino back on Feb. 27.

Reigning state Player of the Week Mykolas Petritias led the team in both kills (10) and digs (seven), while adding three blocks and two aces.

After a 15-13 lead in the first set, the Vaqueros rattled off five in a row to all but clinch the win. Ayden Welch formalized the 25-17 victory with a set-clinching ace.

As the scoreline suggests, set two was more competitive. Down 10-7, Santa Barbara tied it thanks to a Petritias kill, Charlie Coordt kill, and another Welch ace. The teams traded points until El Camino took a 19-16 lead. Shortly after, Evan Thompson earned a kill and block—with fellow middle Nick Schultz—on back-to-back points to re-tie the score at 20 apiece. Then, three straight kills from Parker Dison capped a 6-0 run, giving the Vaqueros a 23-20 advantage. Schultz and Petritias got the final two kills to win the set, 25-23.

A set away from victory, the Vaqueros took care of business in the third. Tied at 4-4, the visitors went on a 6-1 run, forcing five El Camino attack errors. Later, a 16-10 lead ballooned to 23-10, essentially confirming the sweep. The Vaqueros showed their prowess by a 25-12 third-set win.

Schultz was second on the team with nine kills on 16 swings. Fellow middle Keegan Hubbard had seven on just 12 swings, but led the team with five blocks. James Walker-Ziegler had four blocks.

Welch had the two aces, 14 assists, and six digs—as did libero Andre Yarme. Devon Russell had 17 assists to lead the team in a match where the Vaqueros' depth was on full display.

Perhaps the best stat, though, to sum up the night was El Camino's hitting percentage. The Vaqueros' net presence and defense was so strong that the hosts hit in the negatives in both the first (-.120, 6-9-25) and third sets (-.167, 7-13-36). For the match, they hit -.011 with 25 kills and 26 errors on 95 swings.

The Vaqueros stay south, traveling to Fullerton on Friday night. Santa Barbara prevailed in the prior matchup, 3-0, at Rob Gym earlier in March.