SBCC suffered a rare home loss in women’s volleyball on Wednesday, dropping a 3-0 decision to No.10 Moorpark in a battle of unbeaten WSC teams. The scores were 25-19, 26-24, 25-17.
“We were up for the challenge,” said coach Ed Gover, “but we didn’t pass at a high level and we didn’t serve at a high level. Our offense played great, our attack at the pins was one of our best all year.
“If we had just served and passed a little better, it would have been a closer match.”
Freshman Heidi Van Den Oever led the 22nd-ranked Vaqueros (8-9, 5-1 WSC North) with 13 kills and Emily Banas had 11. Karissa Flack topped Moorpark (14-3, 6-0) with 14 kills and a .448 hitting percentage.
It was just the third loss in the last 31 home matches for Santa Barbara. Two of those setbacks have come to Moorpark.
The second set was tight down the stretch with SBCC tying it at 21 and 23. Each time, however, the Vaqueros served out to put the Raiders back on top. Flack capped the overtime win with a flick kill to the middle.
“That team was ready to break and Heidi got a big kill to tie it at 23,” said Gover. “Her adrenalin was pumping and her serve sailed long.”
It was the ninth straight win for Moorpark and their eighth consecutive sweep. SBCC, which hadn’t lost since Sept. 28, had its six-match win streak snapped.
“This was a good test for us against a very good team,” said Gover. “We battled all night. We know what to work on — our passing and serving.
“Normally, we‘re strong in the middle but our passing was off and that kept us from running the middle.”
SBCC hosts Oxnard on Friday at 7 p.m.
