Orange Coast hands Vaqueros first loss

Orange Coast built early leads in each set on Friday night and spoiled the men's volleyball home debut for SBCC with a 25-20, 25-20, 25-16 sweep in the Sports Pavilion.

The unbeaten Pirates (4-0) led 11-6 in the first set, 10-6 in the second and 16-6 in the third. Jim Webb, a 6-6 freshman, led Orange Coast with 13 kills and a .429 hitting percentage. Ty Hutchins added 12 kills and hit .455.

"This is the best team we've seen this year," said coach Matt Jones. "They served us off the court and we were out of system the whole night. We couldn't find any rhythm on offense.

"Our offense was slow because we weren't in system."

Nick May led the Vaqueros (2-1) with seven kills and Shane Dyer had six. Carl Mendoza had eight digs for Santa Barbara, which hit just .073 for the match.

The Vaqueros cut a seven-point deficit to 22-20 in the first set on a roof block by Jack Shields and Drew Hogan, followed by a Pirate hitting error. But Orange Coast reeled off three straight for the 25-20 win.

The second set was similar with the Vaqueros falling behind 14-9, then getting within two at 16-14. The Pirates responded with a 5-1 run that made it 21-15. OCC jumped ahead 4-0 in the third set and built a 16-6 advantage with a 7-0 burst capped by a block by Webb.

The Vaqueros continue their three-game homestand on Tuesday with a 6 p.m. match against Palomar.