In their biggest match of the season to-date, the No. 19-ranked VC volleyball team continued their resurgence with a 25-23, 25-23, 25-19 sweep over No. 11 Santa Barbara Friday at the Athletic Event Center. Katey Mulville had a spectacular evening with 16 kills and a .560 hitting percentage. She was set up for much of the night by Nevada Knowles who dished out all 32 assists for the Pirates (14-5, 6-2) in the victory. Savannah Marchese led the defense with 17 digs on the back line.
It was a close match from the start after the Pirates opened up a quick 2-0 lead on Mulville's first kill of the night. SBCC came back with a winner and a pair of service aces before Mulville hit another winner. Averi Carter had a kill for a 5-4 VC advantage and Alexis Baloyo's winner made it 8-6. The Vaquero's went on a 6-2 run to take a 12-10 lead, but the Pirates had more answers with back-to-back points for a 12-12 tie. Ventura was down 15-14 and 20-19 before coming back to win the set 25-23 on a block from Mulville and Victoria Whitney.
The roof!!!! @VCVolleyball 25 - @SBCCVaqs 23 (1-0 ��☠️) @vcscolleges pic.twitter.com/rpeKP1N9ki
— VCPirateAthletics (@VCAthletics) October 29, 2021
The second set was much like the first, a back-and-forth affair between two quality volleyball teams. VC led 4-3 and 7-5 before Santa Barbara came back to hold advantages of 11-9 and 15-12. SBCC led 16-14 before the Pirates scored three straight winners forcing a Vaquero timeout. VC then held leads of 19-18 and 21-20 before Darynne Bickers' hit was blocked out by SBCC for a 25-23 set win by the Pirates.
Bickers off the block and @VCVolleyball takes set 2 with a score of 25-23 ( ��☠️ 2-0) @SBCCVaqs @vcscolleges pic.twitter.com/nwBHeGUjIo
— VCPirateAthletics (@VCAthletics) October 29, 2021
Ventura maintained control of the third set throughout, holding small but manageable leads over the Vaqueros. The Pirates opened up a 9-5 margin early, before Santa Barbara closed to within one, 13-12. Ventura went on a 4-1 rally to regain control, and they led 19-16 before closing out the match winning six of the final nine points. The match-winner came on a rally punctuated by a long hit by Santa Barbara.
How sweep �� it is.. @VCVolleyball 25 - @SBCCVaqs 19 @vcscolleges @TheAcornSports @cccwvca pic.twitter.com/poFUMhpThA
— VCPirateAthletics (@VCAthletics) October 29, 2021
Bickers had a solid night with eight kills while Baloyo recorded four winners with seven digs. Knowles added four kills and six digs to her assist total while Whitney also had four kills for the Pirates.
With the victory, the Pirates rejoin the Western State Conference North Division race. VC (6-2) is in second place behind Moorpark (7-1) with Santa Barbara a close third (5-2) the Raiders and Vaqueros play on Friday Nov. 5, and a SBCC victory could create a three-way tie atop the conference standings.
Ventura hosts No. 20 Orange Coast on Tuesday Nov. 2 at 6:00 pm in a make-up from Sept. 8. they return to WSC North play on Friday Nov. 5 at Los Angels Pierce College.