Men's Volleyball Rallies Past Long Beach in Five-Set Thriller

By AJ Nagbe

LONG BEACH, Calif. — The No. 3 Vaquero Men's Volleyball team (15-4, 9-2) came back to defeat No. 5 Long Beach (13-8, 7-4) 3-2 on Wednesday night in a five-set thriller, bouncing back from an early deficit to secure the gutsy road victory.

Mykolas Petritias led Santa Barbara with 24.5 points on 18 kills, four aces, and five blocks. Greyson Goldberg added 12 points with nine kills, four blocks, and an ace, while Nick Schultz contributed eight points with a team-leading six blocks. Ayden Welch (23) and Devon Russell (18) dished out a combined 41 assists, while Luke Steinert anchored the defense with nine digs. The Vaqueros dominated the decisive fifth set 15-8 to complete the comeback victory on the road.

Long Beach took the opening set 25-18 before Santa Barbara responded with a 25-22 victory in the second set to even the match. The Vaqueros seized momentum with a 25-20 win in the third set, but Long Beach forced a fifth set with a 25-21 victory in the fourth. In the decisive fifth set, SBCC dominated 15-8 to complete the comeback. The Vaqueros overcame the early deficit with strong serving—10 aces compared to only 13 service errors—and a balanced offensive attack to secure the road victory.

Santa Barbara returns home to host Moorpark (9-10, 5-6), who sits second behind the Vaqueros in the Northern Region-Canyon division. With three matches remaining, the Vaqueros have already clinched the division, but still need good results to hold off Santa Monica (9-2), Fullerton (8-3), and still Long Beach (7-4). First serve for the match against Moorpark is set for Friday, April 3, at 6 p.m. at Robertson Gym for their next conference matchup.