Vaqueros ace their test in 3-1 victory

Jane Petricka notched five ace serves on Wednesday and SBCC had a season-high 16 aces in a 3-1 women's volleyball win over L.A. Mission at the Sports Pavilion. The scores were 25-13, 22-25, 25-13, 25-8.

The Vaqueros, ranked No. 8 in the state, extended their win streak to 10 and stayed perfect in the WSC North. SBCC is 14-4 on the year and 5-0 in conference. Mission fell to 2-3 and 7-5.

Eryn Young also had five aces and a team-high 14 digs. Madelon Leiphardt added four aces, 32 assists and six dumps (tapping the ball over on 2nd hit) for a sterling .556 hitting percentage.

"We work on serving every day in practice and Ed (Gover) has been really helpful with my serves because recently they haven't been too consistent," said Leiphardt, a 5-9 sophomore setter. "I've been listening to him and keeping it simple."

Taylor Badois had eight kills and Kaitlyn Clemann and Katelynn Womack added seven each. Clemann hit .318.

SBCC broke open a close first set with a 12-4 run that made it 21-10. The Eagles used a 12-2 burst of their own to take a 23-16 lead in the second set. Petricka served five straight points for the Vaqueros, including two aces, to pull them within a point at 23-22. Mission secured the win on a Vaquero hitting error and an ace by Mariah Matteson.

"Give L.A. Mission credit, they're very well coached and we were a little flat in Game 2," said coach Ed Gover, after the 296th win of his career. "We made a nice comeback at the end of the game. Then we regrouped for Game 3 and we passed much better and served tougher."

Gover is 296-186 in 24 years as the Vaqueros' head coach.

"We've been working on serving quite a bit in practice and when we get into a good rhythm, we can run off five, six in a row," Gover noted. "We just have to be patient and wait for it to happen."

Santa Barbara took a 13-5 lead in the third set on a block by Lea Michaels and another ace from Petricka. Petricka capped the win with aces on the 23rd and 25th points.

Leiphardt served six consecutive points in Set 4, thanks to three aces, to stretch the lead to 15-5. Makinna Malady entered the match with her team ahead 19-7 and pounded a kill for a 24-7 lead. After a Vaquero service error, she recorded a kill off the block to cap the 25-8 victory that tied for the biggest victory margin of the year.

The Vaqueros travel to Cuesta on Friday for a 5 p.m. match.