Vaqueros sweep defending state champs

Nick May pounded a season-high 18 kills and Drew Hogan dished out 36 assists on Friday, leading SBCC to a 25-18, 25-18, 25-23 men's volleyball sweep over Golden West in the Sports Pavilion.

May, a 6-2 sophomore, also hit for a season-best .516.

It was the third straight win for the Vaqueros (5-2), who got 14 kills from 6-5 opposite Evan Yoshimoto. In the last two matches, SBCC has knocked off the defending state champion (Golden West) and state runner-up (Grossmont).

"We showed real steady execution," said coach Matt Jones. "We didn't put a lot of pressure on them with our serve early in the third set but we got better as the set went on. They're a nice balanced team that ran the middle well when they were in system.

"I thought when we were serving well, we did a nice job of blocking the pins. We were playing steady and only had 12 hitting errors. We hit pretty consistently and forced them to beat us."

Carl Mendoza had nine digs and Hogan added eight, along with three block assists. SBCC's team hitting percentage was a season-high .385, powered by a .533 effort in Set 2 and .500 in Set 3.

"The passes were there in the beginning and everything was just kind of flowing and gelling together," said Hogan, a sophomore setter from Chico. "That was probably Nick's best game of the season. We were in system for most of the night and that really helped.

"This was a good win, especially to do it in three (sets). We're playing very well right now. Everyone is on the same page and the chemistry is great. I have high hopes for this season."

The Vaqueros had big runs in the middle of the first two sets, riding a 5-1 surge to take a 16-9 lead in the opening set and a 13-7 burst that produced a 15-10 advantage in the second set.

SBCC was down 13-10 in the third when Evan Yoshimoto drilled a kill to ignite an 11-3 run that gave the Vaqueros a 21-16 lead. To'o To'o capped that run with a kill in the middle and later got the 22nd point on a slam from the right side.

The Rustlers (4-3) closed within one at 24-23 on a block by Kevin Gorence but Davis Grininger (4 kills) finished off the 73-minute win by ripping a spike off the top of the block.

The Vaqueros open WSC play on Wednesday at Santa Monica, starting at 6 p.m.