Jenn Waddill collected 15 kills and libero Case Jenkins had 30 digs Tuesday night as No. 9 SBCC outlasted No. 16 Canyons 3-2 in a nonconference women’s volleyball match at the Sports Pavilion. The scores were 25-16, 26-28, 25-16, 23-25, 15-8.
The Vaqueros (10-1) set a school record with their 10th straight win. Canyons falls to 6-4.
Freshman setter Kelsey Soos celebrated her 18th birthday by getting the ball to key hitters in key moments. Jessica Tune had 13 kills, Nicole Bergmann 11 and Antonia Antes added nine. Bergmann hit .500 for the match, Waddill finished at .450 and Antes hit .400 with four aces.
“Kelsey is a very smart setter,” said coach Ed Gover. “When they moved No. 17 to block Maria on the outside, Kelsey just reversed the ball twice to Jessica and got great sideouts.”
The fifth set was all Santa Barbara, thanks to a seven-point service run by Jenkins that gave the Vaqueros a 9-2 advantage. Waddill scored three points down the stretch, including a block that made it 13-7. The match ended on a blast by Tune down the line and a roof block by Maria Mayer.
“I haven’t done very well in my serving all season but I finally pushed through,” said Jenkins, a freshman from Kailua, Hawaii. “I was cramping throughout the match but I wasn’t going to miss the fifth game.”
Antes served two straight aces to cap the third set and Case had two in a row to start the 7-0 run in the final set.
“Both teams utilized their hitters extremely well,” Gover noted. “Kelsey Soos did a great job of isolating our hitters. Canyons is a strong serving team and they had us back on our heels a little bit. In the end, our passers came through.”
SBCC hits the road for its final nonconference match on Friday at Bakersfield.
