"What a battle!" Vaqueros Drop 5-Set Thiller to Canyons

SANTA BARBARA, CA - The Santa Barbara City College Women's Volleyball team lost a 5-set thriller to College of the Canyons Friday night at home.

"What a battle!" head coach Kat Niksto said. "Our first 5 set match of the year, unfortunately didn't end in our favor."

It was a battle, indeed. After SBCC coasted to a 25-11 first set victory, one would have assumed this would be a lopsided affair. The rest of the match was anything but.

A much more competitive second set ended in a 22-25 Canyons win, who then followed that up by completely turning the match on its head and winning the third set 10-25.

The Vaqueros then rallied in the fourth set, winning 25-17 and forcing a decisive fifth set.

With SBCC up a point midway through the set, what seemed like a Canyons error at first glance was then ruled a point for Canyons. That two-point swing shifted the momentum massively, and SBCC could not retake their lead. They dropped the final set, 11-15.

"I thought at moments we played really well as a team," Niksto offered, "however once again our inability to play consistently from the start to finish of a match ended up getting us in the end."

In a game of highs and lows, the Vaqueros' right side attackers remained consistent, as they have most of the 2023 season so far. Heidi Collins and Chaya Clemons led the team with 10 and 8 kills, respectively, set up by Natalie Lercari-Sullivan (25 assists) and Sophie Ward (13). Ward was also tied for second on the night in digs with 7; Gabby Russell also tallied 7, while Alexis (Birdie) Zevenbergen totaled 9.

Santa Barbara has a quick turnaround with two matches at the Cuesta Quad on Saturday against Hartnell and Monterey Peninsula.