The Santa Barbara City College Men’s Volleyball team (12-3, 6-1) earned their third sweep in a row, beating Pierce (6-9, 2-5) at home 25-17, 25-20, 25-20 on Wednesday night.
The Vaqueros have now played all 15 other teams in the 3C2A, and all seven other teams in the Northern Region. They have the third best record in the 3C2A—behind 17-0 Orange Coast and 16-1 Golden West—and naturally, the best record in the Northern Region.
Playing the final match of the first cycle of conference play, the Vaqueros were coming in hot off the back of four straight wins and 10 of their last 11. After a 25-17 first-set win, the next two sets were closer, but the Vaqueros still cruised to 25-20 victories in both.
Pin hitter Mykolas Petritias led the team with 15 kills on 27 swings, both that was not his most impressive stat. He served nine aces—three per set—more than doubling his previous career high of four.
Three different middle blockers had standout performances. Keegan Hubbard was second on the team with 10 kills on 17 swings. Nick Schultz hit .600 (6-0-10) with seven blocks, while Evan Thompson came off the bench to lead the team with eight blocks (two solo).
Setter Devon Russell facilitated the offense well, earning 35 assists in the three sets and guiding the team to a .358 hitting percentage. He and libero Payton Martinez each had seven digs, tied for a Vaquero best on the night.
Santa Barbara next hosts Santa Monica for a huge matchup on Friday night at 6 p.m. in Rob Gym. Each team is 6-1 in conference play, so the winner will have the top spot in the Northern Region—albeit, the two teams are in the Canyon and Central divisions, respectively. In the previous matchup at Santa Monica, the Vaqueros used multiple comebacks to take a 3-1 road victory.