Vaqueros Sweep East LA in First Round of Postseason Play

SANTA BARBARA, CA – The Santa Barbara City College Women's Volleyball team won their opening round playoff game in a sweep of #17 East Los Angeles at home.

"It was a great first playoff game for our team tonight, and so nice to be at home! There were some definite early butterflies from our largely freshmen lineup, but we played consistent volleyball throughout," head coach Kat Niksto said.

The #16 Vaqueros won both of the first two sets closely, 25-21, before dominating the third, closing out the match with a 25-11 victory.

"I was proud of our team's defense throughout the match," Niksto added. "The last set was an example of what a clean volleyball game we can play at the highest level."

Freshman standout Kira Little nearly had another double-double, but settled for 9 kills and 9 digs. She also led the team in aces with 3. Nevaeh Tillet had a similarly solid all-around statline with 7 kills and 7 digs.

Alexis (Birdie) Zevenbergen had 6 kills while Carly Hanna and Chaya Clemons each had 5. Zevenbergen added 4 blocks; Clemons also had 3, and Hanna, 2.

"Both our middles (Birdie and Carly) had strong offensive and defensive nights," Niksto said proudly.

Gabby Russell was great as usual at libero, leading the team with 10 digs. Sophie Ward led in assists with 16, and Natalie Lercari-Sullivan provided 12 assists and 9 digs.

"We are excited to keep our season going, and looking forward to the challenge of traveling to SD Mesa to take on the #1 seed in the south," Niksto concluded.

SBCC travels south on Tuesday at 5:00 PM, hoping to knock off the top team in the SoCal Regionals.