Vaqueros on Losing End of Instant Classic against Santa Monica

By Jimmy Friery

SANTA BARBARA, CA - The Vaqueros Men's Volleyball team lost a 5-set thriller to Santa Monica on Friday night, falling to 0-2 to start conference play.

An extremely competitive match, all 5 sets were decided by 5 points or less. The Vaqueros won the first 2 before Santa Monica won the last 3.

Santa Monica boasted a starting lineup of three players 6'7 or taller—including a 7-footer—while the tallest Vaqueros stand just 6'5.

Early in the first set, SBCC found themselves down 10-6. Andreas Schuetz then went on a 6-0 serving run, pushing the Vaqueros into the lead at 12-10. Later in the set, it was 16-15 Vaqueros, but the lead ballooned to a more comfortable 21-17 thereafter.

Santa Monica rattled off 3 in a row from there, though, into an SBCC timeout. Whatever head coach Bridget Kulesh said worked, as the Vaqueros won 3 in a row themselves, on the way to winning the set 25-21.

In the second set, the Vaqueros were down early once again, this time 8-2. However, another 6-0 run allowed them to tie the score at 8-8. After the tie held to 13 apiece, a Schuetz ace put the Vaqueros up 17-14.

Libero Gabe Stopani was forced to exit temporarily after an injury, so James Ng entered and immediately aced to give SBCC a 23-18 advantage. The Vaqueros would go on to win 25-20, taking a 2-0 lead.

Set three began a lot like the first two sets, with Santa Monica beginning with a substantial lead (10-4) before the Vaqueros went on a run (5-1). Santa Monica took a timeout to stop the momentum with an 11-9 lead.

A few points later, the Vaqueros were plagued with another injury; Schuetz rolled his ankle and was forced to leave the match. He would come back shortly, but only played a handful of points before not being able to continue.

A 14-14 tie turned into a 19-18 Santa Monica lead, and the Corsairs would go on a 3-0 run to make it 22-18. SBCC's comeback attempt got as close as 23-21, but ultimately Santa Monica would extend the match, winning the set 25-22.

Once again, the fourth set started with Santa Monica building a lead. After a Vaqueros timeout down 7-3, Santa Monica ballooned the lead to 10-3. An Evan Thompson serving run brought the score to 10-7, but Santa Monica would hold the lead to 15-12, yet not before a few key blocks by Cameron Brown—including 2 on consecutive points.

Then, an electric moment happened. A tough dig resulted in the ball hovering over the Santa Monica bench, with libero Kody Castellon and Bryce Bowsher both determined to keep the point alive. One of them did, but both of them toppled over their bench, knocking over a few chairs in the process. They bounced back up immediately, ran back onto the court, and played about 20 more seconds before SBCC eventually won the longest rally of the night. The entire gym applauded, honoring the effort of the visiting players and celebrating the Vaqueros' point simultaneously.

Gabe Stopani went on a serving run to bring the Vaqueros back to 17-16, but Santa Monica would win 4 of the next 5 to take a 21-17 lead. The teams traded points to a 25-21 Santa Monica win, and the back-and-forth match was naturally going to a fifth set tiebreaker.

Looking for the reverse sweep, Santa Monica might have been feeling the pressure a bit as they had service errors on 3 straight serves early in the set. Symbolic of how competitive the match was, there were ties at 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 to open the set. In other terms, neither team held more than a 1-point lead until Santa Monica went up 8-6. At 10-7 Santa Monica, SBCC took a timeout.

Cole Richards, who was phenomenal up to this point, got a kill to bring it to 10-8, and a Griffin Hurd block made it 10-9. After a Santa Monica point, Richards got another kill to bring the Vaqueros within 1 once again. A service error thwarted the chance at a tie, but Hurd then got a kill to make it 12-11. The teams traded points to 13-12 Santa Monica, and Richards again came through, emphasizing his great performance on the night. His match-tying kill gave the home fans chills, and the score was as balanced as it could possibly be—2 sets to 2, 13-13.

Unfortunately for the Vaqueros, Santa Monica would win the next 2 points, winning the match 21-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-21, 15-13.

The Vaqueros look for their first conference win after a week off, heading to El Camino Friday night at 6:00 PM.