SBCC stormed back from a 2-0 deficit on Friday night but couldn’t finish the deal in a 3-2 women’s volleyball loss to Irvine Valley. The Lasers (2-0) spoiled the Vaqueros’ home opener with a 25-21, 25-18, 22-25, 23-25, 17-15 victory that lasted two hours and 20 minutes.
It was just the fifth loss in the last 42 home matches for Santa Barbara (1-2).
Jenna Anderson led the Vaqueros with 25 kills and a .311 hitting percentage. Madison Waddell added 18 kills and Jasmine Ward contributed eight. Kristy Kearney had nine blocks, including two solo.
The Vaqueros jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the third set, capped by an ace serve from Jane Petricka. Irvine pulled within one at 21-20 before Kearney, Anderson and Waddell notched kills to rebuild the lead.
SBCC won a tight 25-23 decision in Game 4 and evened the match when Ward drilled a kill through the block.
“We just decided to go all out when we were down two sets,” said Anderson, a 5-11 sophomore. “We started communicating better, taking more swings and our serving and passing were much better.”
The Vaqueros jumped ahead 10-5 in the fifth set on an ace by setter Ari Garner. The Lasers responded with a 6-0 run, sparked by Shaelyn Perez, and took their first lead of the final set at 11-10.
SBCC was never able to regain the lead, although the Vaqueros did fight off three match points and tied it at 14 after trailing 14-12. Annie Mitchem, a 6-2 freshman middle blocker from Texas who led the Irvine Valley offense, finished off the match with a block on the right side.
“We have a really tough schedule and we’re playing a lot of top-10 teams in the state early in the season.”
The Vaqueros travel to the El Camino Quad on Friday to face two more top-rated squads in El Camino and Pasadena.
