MVB: Vaqueros drop conference opener in four

The middles hit .480 on Wednesday but SBCC’s outside hitters struggled in a 3-1 men’s volleyball loss at Santa Monica. The scores of the WSC opener were 26-24, 22-25, 25-21, 25-11.

The Corsairs (5-2, 1-0) won their fourth straight while the Vaqueros (5-3, 0-1) had a three-game win streak snapped.

Evan Yoshimoto had eight kills and middle blocker Davis Grininger added seven kills with a .462 hitting percentage. Fellow middles Jack Shields (4 kills, .667) and Junior Too (3 kills, .333) were equally effective.

“Our middles played well but we struggled on the pins,” said coach Matt Jones. “We executed OK in the first set until it got to 18 points. Then we killed ourselves by missing four of the last five serves.”

“Santa Monica had big pins (outside hitters) and they blocked well.”

The Vaqueros host L.A. Pierce on Friday at 6 p.m