Vaqueros deal 22 aces in 3-0 sweep of Antelope Valley

SBCC racked up a season-high 22 aces on Wednesday night in a 3-0 men's volleyball sweep of Antelope Valley at the Sports Pavilion.

The Vaqueros, ranked No. 4 in the state, won their eighth straight to improve to 8-2 overall and 4-0 in the WSC. AVC is 0-10 and 0-4.

Santa Barbara posted its second-highest hitting percentage of the season (.339), including .588 in the second set when it had 12 kills and only two errors. It was the third straight sweep for the Vaqueros and their fourth in five matches.

Aaron Letvin led the serving onslaught with a career-high seven aces. The 6-4 left-hander from Menlo Park has 13 aces in his last two matches. He leads the state with 26 aces (1.13 per set).

Calvin Sanborn had seven kills, five aces and five digs. Trent Lingruen added six kills, a .364 hitting percentage and five aces.

Kevin Vonyokes had five kills and a perfect 1.000 percentage while Bradley Kleven collected five kills and hit .500.

The last three teams the Vaqueros have played have a combined record of 3-27.

"We told the guys to focus on our side and all the disciplined things like being balanced," said coach Jon Newton. "You have to realize there will be some weird stuff from the other side. Just stay disciplined and focus on our side were the biggest things.

"Our goal was to beat our previous best of 15 aces and I was a little surprised to see us get 22. I thought Kevin Vonyokes played well with five kills in five swings. This was another good team win that showed our depth."

SBCC had seven aces in the first set, six in the second and nine in the third. Lingruen reeled off three straight aces early in the third set and Letvin ripped three straight jump-serve aces for the 22nd, 23rd and 24th points. Vonyokes ended the 65-minute sweep with a kill just inside the back line.

The Vaqueros broke open an 8-5 first set with a 7-3 run and took a 15-8 lead on a kill by Sanborn off a nice back-set from Kyle Merchen. A 13-3 run in the middle of the second set led to a 21-8 advantage on an ace by Sanborn.

The third set was a runaway from the start with leads of 6-1, 13-4 and 19-9. Lingruen slammed one from the back row for the 18th point and then served an ace for the 19th.

The Vaqueros will host No. 1 Long Beach City (11-1, 4-0) in a first-place showdown on Friday at 6 p.m. The defending state champion Vikings have won nine in a row and the Vaqueros have won eight straight with wins over No. 2 El Camino and No. 3 Orange Coast.