Ariana Garner did a little of everything on Wednesday night, guiding SBCC to a 25-11, 25-23, 25-18 sweep of Ventura in a WSC North women’s volleyball match at the Sports Pavilion.
The 5-6 freshman setter from Carmichael, Calif., collected four kills, eight digs, two aces and two blocks as the first-place Vaqueros, ranked 16th in the state, improved to 12-6 overall and 6-0 in conference.
It was their 10th straight win and 35th in the last 39 home matches. SBCC is 42-6 in WSC North play over the last five years.
Jenna Anderson led SBCC with 11 kills, Jasmine Ward had six and Bianca Castro five. Castro, the WSC block assist leader with 43, had two blocks as did Katie Dolan and Garner.
Lara Bangs notched nine digs, Mackenzie Mexico and Garner had eight and Emily Banas chipped in with seven. Erika Bellitt had three aces with Mexico and Garner producing two apiece.
The Vaqueros took control of the first set with a 16-2 run that turned a 4-4 tie into a 20-6 lead. They took a 20-14 advantage in the second set on two straight kills by Anderson but the Pirates (3-14, 2-5) pulled within one at 23-22 and 24-23.
Garner secured the 25-23 win with a dump set into the middle of the court.
“Sometimes when the passes aren’t there and I don’t hear any hitters calling (for the ball), I just take the initiative and try to get the point,” said Garner. “Since we’ve won nine straight (now 10), we’ve got a target on our backs. We know everyone is looking for us and wants to take us down.”
Santa Barbara has won 18 of 19 sets in conference play.
Ventura took an early 4-0 lead in the third set before the Vaqueros rallied. They went ahead 5-4 on a roof block by Castro and stretched it to six points at 14-8. They took their biggest lead at 20-13 on an ace by Bellitt. Madison Waddell and Tessa Weller scored two of the last four points on kills.
“We know Ventura is well-coached,” said SBCC coach Ed Gover. “They have one of the best coaches in Santa Barbara in (former UCSB All-American) Jon Roberts. We know they’re going to bring their best game.
“The first game may have come too easy and then we had to go to work. If I could have switched it, I would rather have the second game be the first, so we would have been pushing right from the beginning.
“It’s a game of ups and downs and you’ve got to battle through it. We found a way to weather the storm.”
Gover was impressed with the play of Weller and Waddell off the bench as well as the serving of Bellitt.
The Vaqueros host Cuesta on Friday at 7 p.m.
