Long Beach upends Vaqueros 3-1 in Regional opener

Josannah Vazquez had 19 kills and hit .545, leading No. 10 Long Beach to a 3-1 upset of No. 7 SBCC on Tuesday night in the opening round of the Southern Cal Regional at the Sports Pavilion. The scores were 25-16, 21-25, 25-17, 25-18.

The Vikings (18-4) won for the 18th time in 19 matches. They led 22-12 in the first set and 20-12 in the third. The Vaqueros (21-7) suffered their second straight home setback after winning their first 12.

Kaylene Ureno led the Vaqueros with 12 kills and eight digs. Carolyn Andrulis had 10 kills, 14 digs and three aces. Avery Mulvey was No. 1 in digs with 19 and Kiana Pisula had a double-double (29 assists, 13 digs) in her final match as a Vaquero.

Ureno was playing with a knee injury. Santa Barbara hit just .088 for the match.

The Vaqueros built leads of 9-5, and 23-15 on the way to their second-set victory.

"We flip-flopped the lineup and played well in the second set," said veteran coach Ed Gover. "We put Carolyn in the front because she was our big power hitter tonight. Our serving was tougher and we got them out of rhythm. But we couldn't sustain it in the next two sets."

Gover said he was proud of his team and their 21-7 record.

"We had a great year," he stated. "It's too bad one of our top players had to deal with an injured knee. This is a gritty bunch of girls. They're great friends with great chemistry. We lost to a very physical team."