Taylor McCluskey had 14 kills, 10 digs and three aces on Wednesday night, leading SBCC to a 3-1 men's volleyball win over Golden West in the Sports Pavilion. The scores were 23-25, 25-22, 29-27, 25-22.
Middle blocker Robert Gulvin added 10 kills with a .438 hitting percentage and three blocks in the third straight win for the Vaqueros (4-2). Jackson Wopat had 10 kills and four blocks. Setter Kyle Smiley contributed 42 assists, 10 digs, three kills and three aces.
"It felt like we served better tonight and when our serves were in, we did a great job of float serving and making it tough for them to serve-receive," said coach Matt Jones. "That was the turning point – the serving would get us back in the game until we found our offensive rhythm.
"We're so slow starting sets right now, we keep playing from behind and that's a big area we need to improve on."
Andrew Tenbrink, a 6-4 sophomore, led the Rustlers (5-2) with 22 kills and a .636 hitting percentage. Chace Palumbo added 11 kills.
Santa Barbara hit .391 in the second set and .202 for the match with nine aces and 10 service errors.
The Vaqueros fell behind 9-3 and 18-10 in the opening set, then rallied to tie it at 22 on a McCluskey kill off a triple block. Gulvin slammed a spike to tie it at 23 but Golden West scored the last two points, winning the set on an ace by Palumbo."
"We missed a lot of serves in the first set and we weren't focused passing," said McCluskey. "We kind of tightened up, especially myself. I was talking to the coaches and realized how lazy I was being and how I wasn't thinking about my passing. We were getting killed in the middle and then we slowly started getting it together."
SBCC led for most of the second set and went ahead 18-13 on a block by Matt Hall (4 kills, 3 aces) and Haward Gomes (6 kills). The Rustlers came back and got within a point at 23-22 on a kill and an ace by Palumbo. The Vaqueros won the set on a long serve by GWC and a kill by Wopat.
The third set was the most entertaining of the night with 13 ties and eight lead changes. Each team had two set points before a slam by McCluskey tied it at 27. The 6-3 sophomore from Mission Viejo pounded a kill from the 10-foot line and then served up an ace for the 29-27 triumph.
"They're a very rowdy team and they were talking a lot," McCluskey added. "Both teams played their best volleyball in the third set. We were scrambling to make plays, people were hitting the walls and diving everywhere. We served well and passed well, that was definitely our best set."
The Vaqueros fell behind 8-2 to open the fourth set. After a timeout, the home team got going and tied it at 11 on a kill by Gomes and a long hit by Palumbo. The Rustlers took a 17-15 lead on an ace by Vincent Pizzuti but the Vaqueros responded with a 7-1 burst, capped by an ace from Gomes that gave them a 22-18 advantage.
McCluskey recorded the 21st and 23rd points on a kill to the back line and a spike down the line, then finished off the match with his 14th kill.
"Sometimes it just starts to flow," said McCluskey. "I'll tell my setter I'm feeling it and he'll let it flow to me and we'll see what happens. That team was 5-1 and they have a couple of guys who transferred from Long Beach State. I played against them in club and it feels really good to beat them."
The Vaqueros travel to Irvine Valley on Friday for their final nonconference match at noon.
