Men’s Volleyball Beaten by Long Beach in State Semis

By Jimmy Friery

LONG BEACH, Calif. – The Santa Barbara City College Men's Volleyball team (19-5, 12-2) fell to Long Beach (18-8, 10-4) in the 3C2A Semifinals on Thursday night at the Hall of Champions, 25-18, 25-20, 25-15.

With the home court advantage, Long Beach's emotion helped them flip an 11-9 first-set deficit into a 16-12 lead, forcing a Santa Barbara timeout. That four-point lead only grew as they took the opener 25-18.

The Vaqueros' best opportunity was in the second set. Down 5-1, they eventually tied the score at 9-9. After trading points for a bit, Mykolas Petritias' ace capped off a three in a row for Santa Barbara and forced a Long Beach timeout with the score 18-15 Vaqueros. But the hosts dominated the rest of the set, rattling off a 4-0, 7-1, and finally, 10-2 run to take it 25-20—and a 2-0 lead.

The momentum swing continued into the third set—which the Vaqueros never had a lead in. Although it remained close early on, Long Beach turned a 12-9 advantage into a 17-10 advantage. Both teams were resigned to the result from there as Long Beach secured their place in the State Championship with a 25-15 third-set win.

Long Beach was on fire, hitting .465 in the match and .625 in the final set. In comparison, the Vaqueros hit just .071 on the night, their lowest mark of the season.

It is a tough end to what was a phenomenal season for the program. The 2026 Vaqueros end the year with the third-most wins in school history. The sophomore class graduates with back-to-back State Semifinal appearances and the first conference championship since 2005. Putting SBCC Men's Volleyball back on the map, they deserve to hold their heads high.