Friend helps Vaqueros rally past Moorpark 3-2 for 5th straight WSC title

Sophomore Shannon Friend recorded a season-high 23 kills as No. 3 SBCC rallied for a 3-2 win at No. 16 Moorpark that clinched its fifth straight WSC North women's volleyball title. The scores were 25-15, 23-25, 21-25, 26-24, 18-16.

The Vaqueros won their 10th straight match to improve to 22-3 and 7-0 in conference with one match remaining. It was an emotional night for the Raiders (15-8, 5-2), who celebrated Sophomore Night and bid farewell to 24-year head coach Steve Burkhart, who's retiring after this season.

It was the 10th WSC crown for Vaquero coach Ed Gover, whose team has won seven of the last eight WSC North championships. It was their first 5-set match of the year.

Santa Barbara hit .364 in the first set with nine kills and one error. The Raiders took the next two sets in tight battles to take a 2-1 lead.

"We showed some real resiliency after falling behind 2-1," said Gover. "Our passing got better and we won the fourth game. In the fifth, we were down 8-4 and 12-10, then took the lead at 14-13."

Moorpark fought off match point, then took a 15-14 lead for a match point of its own. Friend produced a timely kill and the Vaqueros went on to post an 18-16 win. Friend's 23 kills were the most by any Vaquero this year and one off her career best.

Pisula notched season highs in assists (43) and digs (19). Kaylene Ureno added six kills and 19 digs and Isabella Thompson had six kills and seven blocks. The Vaqueros recorded a season-high 19.5 blocks and tied their season best with 11 solo blocks.

"Shannon and Kiana did a great job of sparking our comeback," said Gover.

Claire Bagdasar had 16 digs, Hillary Bean contributed 13 and Carolyn Andrulis had 10, giving the Vaqueros five players with double-figure digs.

SBCC completes the WSC campaign on Wednesday when it hosts Hancock at 6 p.m.