The Pierce College women’s volleyball team fell to the Santa Barbara City College Vaqueros in the Western State Conference opener held at Pierce on Friday, Oct. 3 after a tough fifth set (25-21 25-22 28-30 24-26 15-9).
Pierce faced a tough and energetic Santa Barbara, in a game dominated by Pierce captain Jessica Martinez who had 16 kills and freshmen Autumn Russell and Chelsea Lawrence who had 11 and eight kills.
Santa Barbara started out strong by scoring 3 consecutive kills but Pierce fought back with Russell scoring the first kill; Pierce then kept up with Santa Barbara’s energy by soon tying up the score to 6-6, and with the help of quick digs by freshman libero Darrin Rice and kill shots by captain Jessica Martinez, they soon led by a solid 13-9.
“They really got us on the tips and full shots,” Russell said. “I was really motivated to get a kill after that.”
Santa Barbara then fought back with an onslaught of kills that led to another stalemate of 17-16. Rice, in an attempt to dig a shot, injured herself and was on the ground for a few minutes before getting back up.
Santa Barbara then responded with kills that proved too quick for Rice and Martinez, leading to a 25-21 win for the Vaqueros.
Coach Nabil Mardini expected this type of response and energy from Santa Barbara.
“This is a very good, well trained team,” Mardini said. “We’re expecting a lot of blocks and kills.”
Pierce started off strong in the second game with Emiliya Phidayeva scoring four kills. The momentum led to a solid 10-5 lead.
After the timeout the Vaqueros came out on fire, going on a 10-5 run to tie the set at 15-15 led by sophomore setter Madelon Leiphardt who lead the game with 45 assists.
“We came really excited and prepared to play them. They always come out with a lot of energy,” Leiphardt said.
There were two sets of rallies that followed, the first in favor of the Vaqueros, leading them 20-18, and the last rally going to them as well, giving the team its second set win by 25-22.
The first half of the third game was an entirely offensive game on behalf of the Brahmas, with Russell, Martinez and Phidayeva all performing a barrage of kill shots that forced Santa Barbara to step up its defense.
After a long and tense rally, Pierce led Santa Barbara by 18-15, and after a break called by Santa Barbara the Brahmas turned out a defensive strategy that kept the final half of the third game tied almost all the way through.
Lawrence and fellow freshman Amber Kelly were vital in the Brahmas defense against Santa Barbara. They performed a series of blocks that gave an opening to Russell who won the match 30-28 with a kill.
“We were playing tentative, going slow,” Martinez said. “We should start with high energy from the beginning but we’re getting better at that.”
Pierce led 2-1 but the team shifted its energy completely, just as Santa Barbara did. The Vaqueros started strong with kills and rallies going in their favor, with a solid 8-4 lead against the Brahmas.
Two back to back rallies commenced in the middle of the game and the Brahmas were victorious in both sets, Lawrence and Martinez both performing quick digs and kill shots to a 20-20 tie.
After one final rally, Lawrence was successful in blocking a potentially winning kill shot by the Vaqueros and won the fourth game 26-24, setting the score to 2-2 and forcing Santa Barbara into a fifth and final game.
“I have no doubt in my team,” Martinez said. “I knew that we would go to the fifth match.”
The final game was the quickest, and while Phidayeva started strong with three kills, she also committed several costly errors that led to the Brahmas defeat.
Pierce’s next game will be at Ventura College on Wednesday, Oct. 8 to take on the Pirates at 7 p.m. as the team looks for its first conference win.
