Ventura Volleyball Drops Close Match in Three

VC sophomore Monica Montoya had eight digs Wednesday in the Pirates' narrow three-set loss at Santa Barbara.
VC sophomore Monica Montoya had eight digs Wednesday in the Pirates' narrow three-set loss at Santa Barbara.

On the record it will go down as a 3-0 setback at Santa Barbara for the VC volleyball team. The reality is, however, that the No. 17-ranked Pirates gave the No. 7-ranked Vaqueros all they wanted and more Wednesday night at the Sports Pavilion in Santa Barbara. Nevada Knowles had another triple-double with 10 kills, 23 assists and 10 digs and Alexis Baloyo had eight kills in VC's 26-24, 25-21, 25-21 loss at SBCC.

It was a close match all the way through. Ventura (10-3, 2-1) advance to set point in the first before the Vaqueros came back to take it 26-24. The Pirates were ahead during much of the second and third sets as well, but a few costly errors helped SBCC take them both 25-21 for the sweep.

Darynne Bickers had five kills, five digs and five blocks for the orange and black while Katey Mulville recorded four winners and six blocks. Victoria Whitney, Averi Carter and Miranda DeBeary each added three kills. Monica Montoya had eight digs defensively and Amaris Garcia added six.

VC next hosts Los Angeles Pierce College on Wednesday Oct. 13. Tickets for the 6:00 pm match at the Athletic Event Center are available online at https://ventura.vbotickets.com/events.  All spectators are also asked to complete a health questionnaire at https://campuscloud.readyeducation.com/#/cb/web-form/2xQgbUG0dbt-dAfvqGTPQg/start.