SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Santa Barbara City College Women’s Volleyball won the first two sets on Friday, but No. 13 Ventura rallied for a 3-2 conference victory at Rob Gym on Sophomore Night.
The Vaqueros took the opening set 25-21 thanks in part to an incredible serving run from Morgane Breault. The Canadian went on a 10-0 serving run to flip a 15-9 Ventura lead to a 20-15 Santa Barbara lead. They kept Ventura at arm’s length from there to see out the first-set win.
The second set needed no comeback. The Vaqueros got out to a 12-6 lead to force an early Ventura timeout. Osby Judd-Wade‘s ace forced their second timeout at 16-8. The Vaqueros cruised the rest of the way to a 25-16 win, leading two sets to nil.
Ventura stayed alive with a 25-23 win in the third. Tied at 20, the Pirates got out to 23-20 and 24-21 leads. Santa Barbara clawed back to a 24-23 deficit, but Ventura won the next point to win the set.
The Pirates then took the fourth, 25-12, and the fifth, 15-11, to complete the reverse sweep. The Vaqueros got as close as a 9-8 deficit in the final set before Ventura was able to pull away.
Sophomore Juliette Dekker led Santa Barbara with 11 kills, while Judd-Wade added 10 kills and seven blocks. Brenna Owens finished with 42 assists, while Mayla Saldana, Owens and Breault served two aces apiece.
Aubrielle LaPointe had a team-high 16 digs, while Saldana and Breault each added 13.
The Vaqueros play at a to-be-determined Western State Conference (WSC) South opponent on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 6 p.m. for the first of two WSC crossovers.