High-Flying Vaqueros Sweep Antelope Valley

By Jimmy Friery

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Santa Barbara City College Men's Volleyball team (11-3, 5-1) continued their winning ways against Antelope Valley (2-12, 1-4) on Friday night via a 3-0 home sweep. It was the Vaqueros' ninth win of their last 10 and third sweep out of four.

The depth of talent at the 3C2A level was on display as the Vaqueros cruised to 25-18 and 25-17 wins in the first two sets before a 26-24 third-set win clinched the sweep. Despite only two wins on the season, Antelope Valley was able to take the Vaqueros—one of the top teams in the state—to extra points.

As has often been the case, Mykolas Petritias led the team with 11 kills on 19 swings. He also had seven digs and three blocks. Middle blocker Nick Schultz was second with eight kills—hitting .538—and led the team with four blocks, including one solo.

Ayden Welch was the primary setter on the night, dishing an even 30 assists for 10 per set. Libero Payton Martinez had an unbelievable line, tallying 20 digs while playing in just two of the three sets.

The Vaqueros look to keep the ball rolling with two more home matches next week in Rob Gym, both scheduled for a 6 p.m. start. They round out the first cycle of conference play against LA Pierce (6-8, 2-3) on Wednesday before a rematch against Santa Monica (11-5, 5-1) on Friday; the Vaqueros won the away match 3-1.