All good things come to an end, and a very, very good thing came to an end for the Santa Barbara City College women’s volleyball team on Saturday night.
The third-seeded Vaqueros closed out one of the best seasons in school history in a tension-filled 25-19, 24-26, 25-21, 20-25, 15-11 loss to sixth-seeded Cypress in the second round of the Southern Cal Regional at the Sports Pavilion.
The Vaqueros finished the season at 21-3, one win short of a berth in the state’s Elite Eight. Heading into Saturday’s match, they had won 14 consecutive home matches and 21 of 22 overall.
“I had high expectations, but I didn’t know they would do it like this,” said coach Ed Gover. “They kept getting better and better, and I was really proud of how they matured as people and as volleyball players.”
Nicole Bergmann hit for a .556 clip en route to 16 kills to lead the way for the Vaqs, who had to battle back from late deficits before winning both the second and fourth sets.
“We definitely gave it our all. We pushed and we pushed and we definitely gave them a fight. We tried everything we could,” said sophomore Maria Mayer, a San Marcos High graduate.
There were 13 tie scores in the first set, the last coming at 18-18 before Cypress sophomore Marina Samoa put down a nice cut-shot from the left side to give the Chargers a lead they would not relinquish.
The Vaqueros trailed 18-13 in the second frame and were forced to call a timeout. Emilia Shugrue and Case Jenkins responded with back-to-back put-aways and Jenn Waddill soon notched a kill on a slide set and a block to cut the Cypress deficit to 19-17. The Chargers would widen the gap once again, as it grew to three at 22-19 after another Samoa kill. SBCC hung tough, however, as Waddill soon took an overpass and tipped it down to an empty spot on the floor to tie things up at 24-24. Cypress then committed a hitting error, and SBCC setter Kelsey Soos made a great one-handed dig on game point before Cypress was called for an illegal set to end the frame.
Samoa, a 5-foot-9 outside hitter, had 24 kills in the match for the Orange Empire League-champion Chargers (21-4).
After Cypress took the third set, the Vaqueros found themselves on thin ice down 18-16 in the fourth. Antonia Antes tallied a kill on the left side, and an error by the Chargers on the next play tied the score. A long rally followed, and Bergmann ended it with a big swing in the middle to give the Vaqueros the lead. She had three kills and a block over the final seven points to force a fifth game.
SBCC was up 5-2 in the fifth but gave up a 5-point run and never took back the lead. The match ended when Jazmine Samoa put down a tip to end a lengthy point.
“I gotta tip my hat to them. They played some great defense at the end of the game and (Samoa) hit some big balls,” said Gover. “Their sophomores made a big difference, and our freshmen were a little tentative. Our freshmen hadn’t been in this situation before and their players have.”
Jake Kelly finished with 24 digs for SBCC, which had won nine straight heading into the match.
Gover said that the big season will do wonders for the Vaqueros, who have 12 freshmen on their roster.
“It has a tremendous impact on these freshmen. This match makes them more mature and will make them stronger players,” he said.
absolutely amazing year sb. congrat's to all the girls and coaches. way to go down swinging nicole bergmann.
absolutely amazing year sb. congrat's to all the girls and coaches. way to go down swinging nicole bergmann.