No. 2 El Camino rallies past No. 6 Vaqueros, 3-2
SBCC pulled within a point on two occasions -- a stuff block by Zac Pittard (13-12) and a solo block by Pittard on a spike from a back-row hitter to make it 14-13. Then Gabriel Vargas-Featherstone drove a kill off the block on the right side on match point.
El Camino overcame a 2-1 deficit in sets and a 9-6 deficit in the fifth set on Friday night to rally past SBCC for a 3-2 WSC men's volleyball victory at the Sports Pavilion. The scores were 21-25, 25-19, 18-25, 25-19, 15-13.
The Warriors, ranked No. 2 in the state, won their sixth straight to improve to 8-1 overall and 3-0 in conference. The sixth-ranked Vaqueros fell to 5-3 and 2-2.
The Vaqueros took a 9-6 lead in the fifth set on an ace and push kill by Trent Lingruen and a spike through the block by Calvin Sanborn. Cinjin Coe produced two straight kills for the visitors, igniting a 7-1 run that gave them a 13-10 lead.
SBCC pulled within a point on two occasions -- a stuff block by Zac Pittard (13-12) and a solo block by Pittard on a spike from a back-row hitter to make it 14-13. Then Gabriel Vargas-Featherstone drove a kill off the block on the right side on match point.
Sanborn, a 6-4 freshman, led the Vaqueros with 18 kills and seven digs. Lingruen added 15 kills and hit .480. Blake Lockhart had 13 kills and nine digs and Pittard, a 6-7 middle blocker, contributed 12 kills and hit .391.
Calvin Sanborn rips one of his 18 kills vs #2 El Camino. pic.twitter.com/Pn9m50E0Xb
— SBCCVaqueros (@SBCCVaqueros) March 9, 2019
Coe topped the Warriors with 16 kills and Vargas, a 6-7 freshman, had 13.
"It was a good high-level match with big plays from both sides," said SBCC coach Jon Newton. "We were up in the fifth game and their No. 5 (Coe) started serving tough and got us out of system. Those little errors here and there hurt us."
The first set was tight until the Vaqueros went on a 5-1 run and took a 19-15 lead on a quick block by Sanborn. Pittard capped the 25-21 win by pounding a quick set in the middle.
The Warriors took command of the second set, building leads of 11-6 and 17-10. The third set was all Santa Barbara as the Vaqueros held leads of 3-4 points throughout. They closed on a 6-1 run and earned the 25-18 win when El Camino served a ball in the net.
The Vaqueros had five service aces and 17 errors. They had a season-high 14 blocks, including 10 solo. Pittard had three solo blocks and Austin Lind had two solos and three assists.
SBCC hit a solid .336. Setter Aaron Letvin dished out 39 assists with nine digs. Chayton Clark led the Vaqueros with 17 digs.
"I thought Trent played really well and Calvin too," said Newton. "And Zac was solid in the middle. Our middles are good if we can pass and get them going."
SBCC will play three matches in four days next week, starting with a Wednesday date at Antelope Valley at 6 p.m. They'll host Santiago Canyon on Friday night and No. 1 and unbeaten Orange Coast on Saturday night.