The Santa Barbara City College women’s beach volleyball team opened its season with two matches Friday at East Beach, besting Fresno 5-0 before falling to Cabrillo by the same score.
“I am really pleased with the way the girls performed today,” head coach Ariana Garner said. “During these first few weeks of practice, as a team our main goals were to be great teammates to our partners and improve our fitness — two crucial parts of beach volleyball that the girls executed well today. I am proud of our effort today and our attitudes. Each pair remained positive throughout each of their matches and although we came up short against Cabrillo each pair fought hard in the afternoon wind.”
In beach volleyball, there are two players on each team.
During the SBCC-Fresno game, City College’s Kelissa Lemoine/Bella Johnson defeated Claire Corippo/Jill Penner, 21-6, 21-16.
SBCC’s Emma Crabbe/Lily Krongold defeated Kylie Kerney/Emme Penberthy, 21-11, 21-9
And the Vaqueros’ Jordyn Anderson/Irey Sandholt defeated Julianna Lopez/Carlie Vanek, 21-6, 16-21, 15-8.
“Kelissa and Bella at the 1s played a great match together,” Garden said. “They were dynamic on and off the ball and were able to control the tempo of the match. Kelissa had a number of aggressive swings, which we love to see, and Bella’s setting made it easy for her to have great placement.
“They served tough and scored a lot of points with their serve which allowed for the girls to take more chances offensively and find their rhythm early. Bella served aggressive earning her team a number of aces.
“Irey and Jordyn played at the 3s and served tough as could be,” the coach said. “They were able to get Fresno out of the system with the pressure from their serves. Both girls had a number of digs and scramble plays that were fun to watch. As smaller players, they know how disciplined they need to be on defense and they were able to execute when they needed to.”
During the game against Cabrillo, the school’s team beat SBCC’s.
Emma Crabbe/Kelissa Lemoine (23-21, 17-21, 15-13).
Cabrillo defeated SBCC’s Bella Johnson/Lily Krongold (21-8, 21-11).
Cabrillo defeated Jacelin McKie/Karoline Ruiz (21-16, 21-10).
Cabrillo defeated Jordyn Anderson/Irey Sandholt (21-10, 21-14).
Cabrillo defeated Caroline McCarty/Flor Bustos (21-11, 21-11).
“Flor and Caroline worked hard at the 5 spot today,” Garner said “Their setting was great and so was their communication. Caroline, who is newer to beach volleyball and transitioning from indoor, continues to improve each practice and match. Flor is a great partner for Caroline as she has years of beach experience and is able to guide the pair throughout their matches.
“Jacelin and Karoline played against a tough Cabrillo 3s team who had fantastic ball control,” Garner said. “We were able to play great scrappy defense and earned the majority of our points with our attacking.
“Karoline had three great hard-driven kills into the wind, and Jacelin was able to hit her crafty cut shots, again by using the elements. Their communication as a team was high-level today,” Garner said.
“Emma and Kelissa played at the 1s and battled in a tough 3-set loss. As a pair their ball control was lights out, making it much easier for them to score points. Kelissa was a force offensively and even earned a couple of blocks defensively. As a pair, they served tough and were able to get Cabrillo out of system. Defensively, not too many balls hit the ground as these two have great discipline. Emma passed great in serve receive and was able to use her short deep game to her advantage. The wind should have been a bigger factor in this match but both sides were equally able to use it to their advantage. It was a very fun and exciting game to watch.”
The Vaqueros will have 21 days in between matches before traveling to Mt. SAC Feb. 25 to face Santa Ana (11 a.m.) and Mt. SAC (noon).
Michael Jorgenson works in communications/media relations at Santa Barbara City College.
email: s
ports@newspress.com.
