SBCC rode solid passing and ball control to a 3-0 women’s volleyball sweep of Cuesta on Wednesday night in the Sports Pavilion. The scores were 25-18, 25-17, 25-15.
It was the fifth straight win for the 10th-ranked Vaqueros (12-7, 6-1), who remained one game behind No. 8 L.A. Pierce in the battle for the WSC North title. SBCC travels to Woodland Hills to take on Pierce on Friday at 6 p.m.
The third-place Cougars fell to 11-7 and 4-3.
SBCC is 38-4 in WSC matches over the last four-plus years.
Madison Waddell had 10 kills and hit .529 while Jasmine Ward added nine kills with a .412 hitting percentage. Eryn Young led in digs with eight and had three of her team’s nine aces. Setter Madelon Leiphardt had 30 assists and five digs.
“The key tonight was the passing of Jenna Anderson,” said coach Ed Gover. “She had 13 three-level passes, which means we were in system on 13 of her passes. They went after her and she responded really well with a great passing percentage.
“We have a big match coming up on Friday and we had to stay focused on this match because Cuesta just had a big win over Moorpark. Our demeanor was business-like and calm and nothing rattled us.”
The Vaqueros broke open a 13-13 first set with an 8-2 run, capped by a Ward kill that made it 21-15. They jumped to leads of 8-2 and 12-5 in the second set. Cuesta got within four at 15-11 before the home team used a 5-0 run, capped by a Kristy Kearney kill in the middle, to make it 20-11.
The Vaqueros led 11-9 in the third set when they put together an 11-2 burst to build a commanding 22-11 lead. Kearney had three kills and a block during that run and Rachel Bower added back-to-back kills and a block.
“Our passing changed this match and our defense was better than its been in the past,” said Kearney, a 5-11 freshman middle blocker from Livermore. “Our defense was so good, it allowed us to run all kinds of plays.
“Our goal is to play as well as we can against Pierce. That’s our biggest match of the season. We just have to go out there and dominate.”
