El Camino erased a 24-19 first-set deficit to win 28-26 and went on to sweep SBCC 3-0 on Wednesday in a key WSC men's volleyball match in Torrance. The scores were 28-26, 25-21, 25-17.
The Vaqueros (10-6, 6-4) moved up to No. 4 in the state earlier in the day, their highest ranking of the year. The third-ranked Warriors won for the 11th time in 12 outings and improved to 13-2 and 8-1.
Trent Lingruen and Calvin Sanborn led the Vaqueros with 11 kills apiece. They also combined for 15 of their team's 23 hitting errors. The Warriors outhit the Vaqueros .462 to .190 in the second set and .325 to .143 for the match.
SBCC setter Aaron Letvin had 32 assists, five digs and four blocks.
The Vaqueros dominated the first set with leads of 8-4, 14-8, 20-14 and 24-19 on a kill by Lingruen. The Warriors fought off four set points and tied it at 24 on a block by Gabriel Vargas-Featherstone and Angel Felix. ECC had set points at 25-24 and 26-25 but the Vaqueros tied it each time. The Warriors finally won it 28-26 on a service error and a block by Felix and Cinjin Coe.
Vargas-Featherstone paced the Warriors with 15 kills and a .542 hitting percentage.
El Camino led for most of the second and third sets. The Warriors enjoyed leads of 11-6, 19-12 and 21-14 in the second set and 16-12, 20-14 and 23-17 in the third.
"We got outplayed by a good, consistent volleyball team," said Vaquero coach Jon Newton. "Zac Pittard and Chayton Clark played well for us."
The Vaqueros have two home matches left in the regular season. They'll host Antelope Valley on Friday at 6 p.m. and No. 2 Long Beach the following Friday, April 12, at 6 p.m.
