By Jimmy Friery
SANTA MONICA, CA – The Santa Barbara City College Beach Volleyball team (7-1, 1st in WSC) split 2 matches on Friday, losing to Santa Monica before a tight win over Moorpark.
The loss to Santa Monica (6-2, 3rd in WSC) comes on the heels of the Vaqueros' important 3-2 win at Ventura (7-1, 2nd in WSC) last weekend. It is the first loss in conference play for SBCC.
"Today, our lack of windy ball experience really affected us," head coach Ariana Garner said. "We came out flat and dropped a match to a team who was really fired up to beat us."
The Vaqueros had beaten Santa Monica in their first conference match, 4-1, in Bakersfield on March 15. However, that scoreline is deceiving, as 4 out of the 5 matches went to 3 sets. On Friday, Santa Monica flipped the script.
Olivia Medina and Ashley Rossi stayed perfect as the 1s team, winning in 2 sets.
2s pair Nevaeh Tillet and Alexis Zevenbergen kept their match alive by winning 23-21 in the second set, but fell 15-11 in the third. Celia Espinoza and Carly Hanna as 4s similarly extended the match in a tight 21-19 second set, but lost the third with the same 15-11 score.
Carolina Koceman and Charlotte Wilson (3s) and Jillian Zimmerman and Vanessa Cabeza (5s) both lost in 2 sets, capping off in the 4-1 SBCC defeat.
SBCC had a quick turnaround, looking to regroup against Moorpark (4-4, 4th in WSC) immediately following. A narrow 3-2 win salvaged the day and kept the Vaqueros at the top of the conference standings.
"We fought hard in our second match to beat Moorpark, but it was not easy," Garner said.
After starting the season 15-0 and winning 30 of 31 sets, Medina/Rossi dropped both 14-21 to Moorpark for their first loss of the season. Tillet/Zevenbergen also fell in 2 extremely close sets 20-22, 19-21.
Thankfully, the Vaqueros flexed their depth and swept in the 3s, 4s, and 5s. Koceman/Wilson remained steady, earning the widest win margin for SBCC in the match with a 21-15, 21-14 score. Espinoza/Hanna held firm after a tight 21-19 first set win for a 21-16 second. Zimmerman/Cabeza nearly had the inverse of Tillet/Zevenbergen's score, winning a nailbiter at 23-21, 21-19 to ensure the Vaqs victory.
"Today was a good learning lesson as we have a target on our backs," Garner continued. "Teams want to beat us and are playing great against us.
"We go back to the drawing board to find a way to bounce back as we have a big match this upcoming week," she concluded.
After the aforementioned huge 3-2 win over Ventura last Friday, an even bigger match is set up to take place next Friday. Home and away will be reversed, with 7-1 SBCC hosting 7-1 Ventura for a rematch at East Beach. The winner will be in sole possession of 1st place with 3 matches remaining; both teams play Glendale following their 10:00 AM match before a pair of final WSC matches the following weekend.
Match 1 vs. Santa Monica (4-1 L):
1s: Olivia Medina/Ashley Rossi (SBCC) def. Urena/Fields (SM) 21-10, 21-10
2s: Odle/Lankton (SM) def. Nevaeh Tillet/Alexis Zevenbergen (SBCC) 21-15, 21-23, 15-11
3s: Lewis/Riva (SM) def. Charlotte Wilson/Carolina Koceman (SBCC) 21-12, 21-17
4s: Horin/Borick (SM) def. Celia Espinoza/Carly Hanna (SBCC) 21-13, 19-21, 15-11
5s: Vanderberg/Robarts (SM) def. Jillian Zimmerman/Vanessa Cabeza (SBCC) 21-19, 21-16
Match 2 vs. Moorpark (3-2 W):
1s: Dakoske/Hazelton (MP) def. Olivia Medina/Ashley Rossi (SBCC) 21-14, 21-14
2s: Schirado/Thomas (MP) def. Tillet/Zevenbergen (SBCC) 22-20, 21-19
3s: Carolina Koceman/Charlotte Wilson (SBCC) def. Alvandian/Montana (MP) 21-15, 21-14
4s: Celia Espinoza/Carly Hanna (SBCC) def. Tayco/Morehead (MP) 21-19, 21-16
5s: Jillian Zimmerman/Vanessa Cabeza (SBCC) def. Jo/Songco (MP) 23-21, 21-19
