Ventura downs Vaqueros on record-setting night

SBCC set an all-time scoring record on Friday night while losing a 3-1 WSC North women's volleyball match to Ventura. The scores were 25-20, 43-45, 25-13, 25-19.

The 45-43 Vaquero win in the second set lasted 68 minutes and was the highest scoring set in CCCAA women's history. The previous high was 39-37.

"I haven't ever gone into the 40s before," said SBCC coach Kat Niksto. "We went into the 30s a long time ago in a club tournament. That was some good volleyball on both sides. Unfortunately we have yet to learn how to play a complete match and against good teams, if you decide to take the first half of a set off, it makes your job very difficult.

"We weren't consistent enough with our passing. If we're not in system, we become very predictable. We didn't win the serve and pass game. We had six aces and seven errors and that's not good enough."

Middle hitter Madi Mullins led the Vaqueros (5-9, 1-1) with 14 kills. Gabi Brewer added 13 kills and eight digs. Setter Maranda Newson had six kills and a .556 hitting percentage to go along with a season-high 35 assists.

Bella Brandt had a season-high 17 digs, Lauren Holsted had eight kills and 14 digs and Casey Crockett contributed 12 digs.

Morgan Gallagher topped the Pirates (7-8, 2-1) with 22 kills, 12 digs and six aces.

The Vaqueros trailed for most of the second set and Ventura had set point at 24-23. The Pirates had eight set points and the Vaqueros had 13 before Newson served an ace to end the 45-43 marathon.

"I've never played in that high of a score, it was definitely a new experience," said Brewer, a 5-11 freshman opposite from San Diego. "It definitely tested all of our limits, like how hard we can work and how we can still compete even when we've basically played another set within the set. It was really nice.

"Our energy just disappeared in the third and fourth sets. It was a really well-matched game but they kept their energy up higher than we did and we just let it get to us."

The Vaqueros will play their third of four straight home matches on Wednesday when L.A. Pierce comes to the Sports Pavilion at 6 p.m. It will be "High School Player Night" with all local girls volleyball players getting in free with a student ID or by wearing their volleyball jersey or team shirt.