Sanborn sparks second straight home sweep

Calvin Sanborn recorded 10 kills and a .400 hitting percentage on Wednesday night as No. 6 SBCC toppled L.A. Pierce 26-24, 25-16, 25-18 for its second straight men's volleyball sweep at the Sports Pavilion.

Blake Lockhart added eight kills and hit .353 for Santa Barbara, which improved to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in the WSC. The Brahmas fell to 2-4 and 1-2.

Men's VB: 6-7 MB Zac Pittard makes a block in 3rd set. Vaqueros swept LA Pierce 26-24, 25-16, 25-18. pic.twitter.com/l2QAdAHDWb

— SBCCVaqueros (@SBCCVaqueros) March 7, 2019

Trent Lingruen also had eight kills and Justin Eitner dug 16 balls and had two aces. Chayton Clark, a 6-4 outside hitter, filled in at middle blocker for a couple of Vaqueros who were sick. He had four of his team's 13 block assists.

Clark has played outside hitter, libero and middle blocker in his first four matches this year.

The Brahmas used three straight aces by Grant DeGrasse to take a 13-9 lead in the first set. They also led 16-11, 20-16 and 23-21. Pittard tooled a kill off the block to ignite a 5-1 game-ending run. The Vaqueros won it 26-24 on a crushing spike by Lockhart and a kill by Lingruen from the left side.

"We were swinging too hard in the first set," said Lingruen, a 6-3 freshman from Tahoe City. "Our energy went up in the second and third set. I love my connection with Peyton Raab."

Aaron Letvin set the first two sets and had 18 assists, two aces and six digs. Raab came in to set the third game and dished out seven assists.

"This was similar to our last match vs. Santa Monica," said Vaquero coach Jon Newton. "We were figuring out what was on the other side of the net in the first set. We had a good late push to win the first set.

"This was a good team win. We started to get comfortable and a little lackadaisical at times. Peyton came in and gave us some good energy in the third set. Blake was steady all night and when that happens, it's really nice."

The Vaqueros went on an 8-2 run to grab a 13-7 lead in the second set. They stretched it to eight points, 18-10, when Lockhart pounded a nice back-set from Letvin. A block by Lockhart and an ace from the left-handed Letvin capped the 25-16 win.

There were nine ties in the third set with the last one coming at 13-all. The Vaqueros took control with a 10-3 burst that led to a 23-16 advantage. Pierce made eight errors during the run on spikes that went long, missed serves and mis-timed sets.

The match ended with Raab sending a back-set to Sanborn for a kill and Lingruen tooling a shot off the block on match point.

The Vaqueros, who are playing five of six matches at home, will get a tough test on Friday when No. 2-ranked El Camino (7-1, 2-0) comes to the Sports Pavilion.

"El Camino just beat Irvine Valley in four and Long Beach in five," noted Newton. "They play good steady volleyball, they don't make a lot of errors and they force teams to beat them. It's going to be a good match."