Men’s Volleyball Wins First Conference Title Since 2005
By Jimmy Friery
LOS ANGELES – The No. 3 Santa Barbara City College Men's Volleyball team (18-4, 12-2) ended the regular season with a 3-1 win at Pierce on Friday night, crowning themselves Northern Region champions. A historic achievement, it is the program's first conference championship since 2005 and most wins since the 1990 Vaqueros went 20-4 in Rick Olmstead's final season.
On top of the team's accomplishments, a handful of Vaqueros broke individual records in the process. Mykolas Petritias ends the regular season with 284 kills, passing Calvin Sanborn's 2019 total of 275—the previous all-time Vaquero-best for a single season. Nick Schultz (81) and Keegan Hubbard (80) both passed the single season blocks record, previously held by To'o To'o in 2014 (78).
The Brahmas (8-14, 4-10) put up a respectable fight, though, at least after the Vaqueros cruised to a 25-14 victory to take the first set. Both the second and third sets went to extra points.
Yet the Vaqueros made sure to keep their lead, winning the second set 26-24. Pierce stayed competitive, grinding out a 29-27 third-set victory to extend the match. Despite having a record well under .500, their ability to go toe-to-toe with Santa Barbara—a top team in the state—shows just how much quality volleyball is being played at the 3C2A level.
The Vaqueros refused to allow the match to go to a fifth set, however. While still tight, the visitors prevailed 25-22 in the fourth, ending the regular season with their fourth straight win and 11 wins out of their final 12.
As usual, Petritias led the team with 19 kills. He did it at the service line (two aces) and at the net (six blocks), too.
Fellow pin hitter Markus Krepp and Hubbard also had solid numbers. Krepp hit .476 with 11 kills on 21 swings, and Hubbard was even more efficient with a .615 hitting percentage (9-1-13). Both of them had five blocks.
Libero Luke Steinert led the team with 13 digs. Devon Russell (31 assists) and Ayden Welch (27 assists) shared setting duties brilliantly as ever, combining for 14.5 assists per set.
Head coach Bridget Kulesh deserves major praise. In just her third season, she has led the Vaqueros to massive heights; only perennial powerhouses Orange Coast (23-1) and Golden West (21-3) have better records than Santa Barbara.
With the 3C2A playoffs beginning Friday, April 17, the Vaqueros naturally have earned the No. 1 seed for the Northern Region. Thus, they will host the Southern Region's No. 4 seed—San Diego Mesa—for a State Quarterfinal matchup at 6 p.m. in Rob Gym.