Jenna Anderson had 16 kills and hit .412 on Wednesday night but L.A. Pierce won three tight sets to pull out an 18-25, 26-24, 25-22, 25-23 women’s volleyball victory at the Sports Pavilion.
Pierce, the three-time defending state champion, switched from the WSC South to the North this year. The Brahmas won for the fifth straight time to improve to 9-9 and 2-0 in conference. The Vaqueros, ranked No. 9 in the state, had their 11-match WSC winning streak snapped and fell to 7-7 and 1-1.
Madison Waddell added 15 kills and Jasmine Ward had eight. Taylor Badois recorded seven blocks, including two solo, and Anderson had five.
“Pierce played a strong match and our energy was still good,” said SBCC coach Ed Gover. “You’re not going to blow away a team that has that much pride in what they’ve accomplished over the last three years.
“We made some mistakes at key moments down the stretch that really cost us.”
The Vaqueros jumped ahead in the first set, 10-4, 16-11 and 22-14. Waddell secured the 25-18 win with a kill off the block. Pierce overcame a 19-16 deficit to win the second set and held leads of 2-3 points throughout the third set.
SBCC went ahead 9-5 and 17-14 in the fourth stanza before the Brahmas went on a 6-2 run to take the lead at 20-19. Savannah Loutzenhiser gave the visitors a 24-22 lead with an ace serve and then served long.
After an L.A. Pierce timeout, the match ended on a serve in the net by the Vaqueros.
Eryn Young had 22 digs, Ari Garner had 10 and Waddell added nine.
“Pierce passed really well at the end of the match and were able to run the middle,” Gover added. “They won the passing-serving portion. Our players know they have to serve tougher against this team.”
SBCC hosts Hancock on Friday at 6 p.m.
