Beach Volleyball Competes at Long Beach

By Jimmy Friery

LONG BEACH, Calif. – The Santa Barbara City College Beach Volleyball team (2-2) split their matches in Long Beach on Friday, beating Orange Coast 4-1 before falling in an extremely close 3-2 matchup against hosts Long Beach.

"I'm proud of the way we showed up today—great effort, attitude, and hustle," head coach Ariana Garner said. "We went up against two tough teams and competed the whole way through."

The Vaqueros had the slight advantage of playing Orange Coast immediately following the latter's defeat to Long Beach. Santa Barbara pairs two through five all confidently won 2-0, accounting for the Vaqueros' 4-1 victory. Camryn Chapman and Stephanie Groswirt moved up to court three and had the closest set of the match—22-20—before a 21-15 set-two win sealed their victory.

Against Long Beach, the match was as competitive as one can be. Kaylin Cooney and Madison Genasci swept on court two; the pair won all four of their sets on the day. Abigail Stenz and Guilia Sophie Gentile did the same, dominating on court four 21-10, 21-12. After a loss on court three, No. 1 team Lina Husek and Maddie Papia played the closest pairs match of the day, winning the first set in extra points but dropping the second and third—in extra points once again. No. 5 pair Daniela Diaz and Juliette Dekker also fell in three sets after coming back in the second, resulting in the 3-2 finish.

"We came up just short in the second match, but we know exactly what we need to work on, and we're ready to get better next week," Garner said.

The Vaqueros will be back at East Beach next Thursday hosting the SBCC Tri with Saddleback and Mt. San Jacinto.

Match one: Santa Barbara def. Orange Coast 4-1

1s: Ihrig/Safavi (OCC) def. Husek/Papia (SBCC) 21-11, 21-13
2s: Cooney/Genasci (SBCC) def. Hardstaff/Fernsten (OCC) 21-17, 21-17
3s: Chapman/Groswirt (SBCC) def. Bisher/Payan (OCC) 22-20, 21-15
4s: Stenz/Gentile (SBCC) def. Butler/Samra (OCC) 21-11, 21-12
5s: Diaz/Dekker (SBCC) def. Lucas/Clinton (OCC) 21-17, 21-9

Match two: Long Beach def. Santa Barbara 3-2

1s: Allen/Jones (LBCC) def. Husek/Papia (SBCC) 22-24, 21-12, 16-14
2s: Cooney/Genasci (SBCC) def. Scott/Aguirre (LBCC) 21-15, 21-16
3s: Muagututia/Hinojosa (LBCC) def. Chapman/Groswirt (SBCC) 21-18, 21-18
4s: Stenz/Gentile (SBCC) def. Iosua/Tuaolo (LBCC) 21-10, 21-12
5s: Hill/Agrupis (LBCC) def. Diaz/Dekker (SBCC) 21-15, 17-21, 15-11