With its top two setters sidelined and its top hitter out for the first set, SBCC had a big mountain to climb on Wednesday in a WSC men’s volleyball match at the Sports Pavilion. Long Beach City overcame a 21-13 deficit in the third game and went on to post a 30-12, 30-26, 30-25 sweep.
Chris Newcomb led SBCC (5-9, 1-6) with eight kills while Tyson Rietz and Mark Hebda had five apiece. The Vikings, who lead the WSC with a perfect 8-0 mark, won their ninth straight to improve to 14-1.
Setters Jacob Denitz and Justin Conmy weren’t available and Rietz missed the first game for a disciplinary reason. Jim Wielebnicki, who normally plays libero, did a good job of filling in at setter, handing out 21 assists.
“He’s not really a setter and he was solid,” said coach Melody Parker. “And Ross (Gill) showed good ball control at libero with 12 digs. He did a nice job passing too.”
SBCC took a 12-6 lead in the third set on seven straight serves by Rietz. The lead grew to 21-13 before Long Beach went on an 11-3 run to tie it at 24. The Vikings scored six of the last seven points to close out the match.
“That’s the No. 1-ranked team in California and we were right there with them in the second and third games,” noted Parker. “Our team needed to know that they could do it with the lineup we had. I was pleasantly surprised with the way they played in the second and third games. I was disappointed in the way we let that lead slip away in the last game.”
SBCC travels to Santa Monica on Friday.
