ROUNDUP Volleyball is second in state

Brahmas drop a set in its win against the Vaqueros

of Pierce’s mistakes in the second set.

“They’re really big on just keeping the ball in play and making us work and making us create more errors,” Alvarez said.

The state's second-ranked women’s volleyball team continued to roll, winning its ninth straight game, despite sloppy play against Santa Barbara City College.

Pierce took the first set with a score of 25 to 17. Santa Barbara won the second set, 25 to 16. Pierce came back and took the third and fourth set, 25 to 23 and 25 to 18.

With this victory, Pierce is now 162.

“Even though we won, we were just off,” Pierce coach Nabil Mardini said. “It was an ugly match, but we found a way to win.”

Pierce played aggressively in the first set, getting off to a fast start and managing a six-point advantage over their competitor, 9 to 3, by the first timeout.

Sophomore setter Hayley Alvarez had 11 kills and 12 points. Coach Mardini said she was the game’s standout player.

At one point, Santa Barbara was able to bring Pierce’s lead down to three points, but the Brahmas took the first set with an eight-point advantage.

Pierce was unable to bring this same energy to the second set.

The team failed to take advantage of many of their shots, with several missed serves and uncontrolled spikes landing out of bounds.

Alvarez said the Santa Barbara Vaqueros were able to take advantage

The Vaqueros were able to accumulate points with tips that the Brahmas could not get to on time, which was a key component for Santa Barbara’s win of the second set.

The third set began similarly to the second. The Brahmas could not get the ball to their setter, and were often scrambling.

Santa Barbara’s blockers often tipped the ball, which lead to them scoring a point when the Brahmas could not return the ball over the net.

At one point, the Vaqueros had a seven-point advantage, 18-11, but couldn’t hang on to their lead.

The Brahmas slowly began scoring again, and once they solidified their momentum, they were able to take the set.

Santa Barbara’s Coach Ed Gover said his players were successful in certain areas of the game, but were unable to recover after the Brahmas took the lead in the third.

“We let things slip in the middle of that third set,” Gover said. “[The Brahmas] put a lot of pressure on you, and our girls have to make sure they hold their composure. [Pierce] started making some errors and then it was our turn to make some errors.”

With newfound power, Pierce entered the fourth set with energy similar to that of the first.

The Vaqueros were affected by the return of Pierce’s controlled shots and began making mistakes. Many

Peyton top

ITT closes doors Department of Education pushes for community colleges to accept students

SAMANTHA attempting to of Santa Barbara’s shots landed out of bounds and their defense was not as strong as it had been.

About 45,000 students were prepared to start classes this month at ITT Technical Institute, until they received an email on Sept. 7 about the college permanently closing due to federal and state investigations, according to the Pierce College website.

Despite being in the lead, the Brahmas were still making messy plays in the final set, with spikes and sets going into the net. In the end, Pierce won in the fourth set, 25-18.

Pierce’s next match will be at