Hot-hitting Vaqueros topple No. 2 Grossmont 3-1

SBCC was firing on all cylinders in its home opener on Saturday and the Vaqueros upset No. 2 Grossmont 3-1 in a top-5 women's volleyball battle at the Sports Pavilion. The scores were 26-24, 25-27, 25-17, 25-13.

The Vaqueros, ranked No. 5 in the state, hit a season-high .333 and had just one hitting error in the last two sets. The first two sets were tight battles, then the Vaqueros hit .310 and .550 (11 kills, no errors) while dominating the last two sets.

Santa Barbara (9-1) won its seventh straight match and handed the Griffins (8-1) their first setback.

Kaylene Ureno, a 5-9 freshman from Turlock, Calif., had her best match of the year with a season-best 14 kills, 13 digs and six blocks, including three solo. She hit .387 and was one of five Vaqueros with a hitting percentage of .378 or higher.

Shannon Friend led SBCC with 16 kills and hit .378. Carolyn Andrulis had nine kills and a team-high 15 digs. Isabella Thompson added five kills, a .455 hitting percentage and five blocks (four solo).

Kiana Pisula dished out 38 assists and libero Claire Bagdasar had 13 digs.

"We played exceptional and really gelled as a unit," said assistant coach Lisa Gera. "We faced a very competitive Grossmont team and our girls rose to the challenge. Our tough serving, ball control and diversity of offense really made a difference in this match."

The Vaqueros registered season highs in blocks (13.5) and solo blocks (10) while tying their season high with 73 digs.

The Vaqueros will host Santa Monica on Wednesday at 6 p.m.