Villa, Chang guide Vaqueros to third straight win

Vanesa Villa fired a 77 on Sunday to take second place and Carolin Chang was third at 78 as SBCC claimed its third straight women's golf victory in WSC No. 8 at Alisal River GC in Solvang.

It was also the first round of the WSC Finals. The teams with the top two conference records after Monday's final round will advance to the Southern Cal Regional on Nov. 8-9, also at the Alisal River course. The team with the best score in the WSC Finals outside the top two finishers will earn a spot in the Regional.

SBCC shot 322, beating Citrus by five strokes. Canyons was third at 349. The Vaqueros are first in the WSC standings at 34-6. They lead Citrus (32-8) by two games and Canyons (30-10) by four with one tourney to go.

Jamie Lopez of Citrus was the medalist at 3-over 75.

Miraya Ramirez, a freshman from Dos Pueblos High, shot 82 for her best round in two months. Santa Barbara has won five WSC tourneys and eight on the season. The Vaqueros are 66-6 for the year.

"Vanesa was hitting her irons very nicely today and she played a great round," said coach Chuck Melendez. "It was a blustery day with winds up to 20 mph and the conditions were tough. I'm happy we won but I know we can play much better tomorrow.

"Our goal is to win the WSC title."

The final round of the WSC Finals and WSC No. 9 will take place on Monday with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.

WSC Finals (1^st round)
WSC No. 8
At par-72 Alisal River GC
 Team – 1, SBCC 322. 2, Citrus 327. 3, Canyons 349. 4, Moorpark 431. 5, Glendale 498. 6, Bakersfield, no score.
 Medalist – 1, Jamie Lopez, Citrus, 75. 2, Vanesa Villa, SBCC, 77. 3, Carolin Chang, SBCC, 78.
 SBCC scores – 2, Villa 77. 3, Chang 78, Miraya Ramirez 82, Isabella Doub 85, Danielle Picard 90, Natalya Cruz 99.
 WSC standings – 1, SBCC 34-6. 2, Citrus 32-8. 3, Canyons 30-10. 4, Moorpark 16-24. 5, Glendale 4-36. 6, Bakersfield 0-40.