Friend, Ruiz spark Vaqueros in 3-1 win over Ventura

Shannon Friend pounded 15 kills and hit .359 on Wednesday night and Julia Ruiz provided a spark late in the fourth set as No. 2 SBCC downed No. 22 Ventura 3-1 in a WSC North women's volleyball match at the Sports Pavilion.

The scores were 25-21, 25-15, 23-25, 25-19.

Friend had six kills and a block in the fourth set and committed just one error in 39 total attacks. Middle blocker Hannah Cantrell added 10 kills and a .533 hitting percentage while Katelynn Womack had a double-double with 10 kills and 16 digs for the Vaqueros, who won their eighth in a row to improve to 17-2 overall and 5-0 in conference. The Pirates fell to 14-5 and 3-3.

Ruiz, a freshman defensive specialist from Tulare Calif., played a little in the second set, then re-entered the match to serve with the score tied at 14 in the fourth set. She served six straight points, including an ace, to give the Vaqueros a 20-14 advantage and also played solid defense with four digs.

Kaitlyn Clemann (9 kills) and Isabella Thompson combined on a roof block to make it 24-18. Ventura's Paris Dosch got a kill before Clemann ended the 2-hour match with a kill off the block.

"We all came together after losing the third set and we knew we had to do something to make changes on offense," said Clemann. "In Game 4, we were a lot more pumped up and knew what we wanted to do. Julia had a run of six or seven points and played awesome defense. She was great."

SBCC trailed 20-17 in the opening set before finishing on an 8-1 run, capped by a kill from Isabella Thompson. The Vaqueros led for most of the second set, then broke it open with a 10-2 closing run. Raleigh McKinney served an ace for the 24th point and Clemann got the set-clinching kill on a set from Tristen Thompson.

"It's important to realize that Ventura plays excellent defense," said Vaquero coach Ed Gover. "When they get into their defensive mode, we know there's going to be multiple rallies. We knew they wouldn't die in the fourth set and they would keep the pressure on by constantly keeping the ball up.

"They're doing well and Brad (Lyans) is a good coach. We knew we had to remain steady and calm and keep going to different people. Kaitlyn (Clemann) woke up in the fourth set and Shiloe fed her multiple sets. Then Julia Ruiz came in for KW (Womack) and gave us the spark we needed.

"She had a nice service run and made a couple of great digs, including a one-arm dig on a key point. She was a sparkplug in that fourth set and she deserves it because she works hard in practice every day."

Tristen Thompson, a sophomore libero from Newport Beach, had 23 digs while McKinney (20) and Hillary Bean (16) both posted season highs for the Vaqueros, who had a season-best 107 digs. Setter Shiloe Parsons had 39 assists and 11 digs.

The Vaqueros travel to Sylmar to face L.A. Mission on Friday with the first serve at 6 p.m.