Vaqueros Use Multiple Comebacks to Down Santa Monica 3-1

By AJ Nagbe & Jimmy Friery

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — The Vaqueros Men's Volleyball team (7-2) took down Santa Monica 3-1 (25-23, 20-25, 25-21, 25-14) on Wednesday night, beginning conference play 1-0. It was a huge display of confidence and resilience for Santa Barbara, who came back from large deficits to win the first and third sets before dominating the fourth.

For those unfamiliar, the 3C2A Men's Volleyball landscape has changed quite a bit since the start of last season. All 16 programs in the state are divided into two eight-team conferences—the Northern Region and Southern Region—and then further into two conference divisions of four teams. The Vaqueros—members of the Northern Region-Canyon—already played all eight Southern Region teams, going 6-2. Wednesday's match at Santa Monica began their crucial home-and-home schedule against all seven Northern Region opponents. 

"Traveling away for our first match of the conference season can oftentimes be a bit intimidating," head coach Bridget Kulesh said. "Although we had to make a couple adjustments to our lineup, the players were well-prepared to be thrown into any situation."

Things did not start perfectly for Santa Barbara, who found themselves trailing 19-14 down the stretch of the first set. Gammon Nilssen's ace was part of a 4-0 run to get it to 19-18, and the Vaqueros eventually reached Santa Monica at a 21-21 tie. The visitors would prove more clutch in the final points, winning a tight 25-23 first set.

Santa Monica consistently were a few points ahead of the Vaqueros in the second, tying the match at one set apiece with a 25-20 victory.

An even bigger comeback in the third set swung the match in favor of Santa Barbara. Down 19-12, the Vaqueros showed their confidence with a massive 10-0 run, taking a 22-19 lead. Five kills from Mykolas Petritias and three blocks from Nick Schultz were part of that turnaround. Eventually taking the set 25-21, there was no way the Vaqueros would let the momentum switch back another time. 

From there, the Vaqueros dominated the fourth set, 25-14, to close out the match. Bouncing back from a second-set loss and two five-plus point deficits, it would be hard to find a better showing of resilience within a match than Santa Barbara's conference-opening road performance on Wednesday night.