BC volleyball seizes control, beats West LA 3-1

Oct. 20—Early in Wednesday night's third set, the Bakersfield College volleyball team found itself in a precarious position.

Already having lost sophomore outside hitter Kami Marion to an apparent knee injury, the Renegades went down 11-6 to West LA. The Wildcats had gone on an 8-3 run using a trio of BC attack errors. With the game tied at one set apiece, and with both teams sitting at .500 on the season, the third frame was shaping up to be one of the most pivotal of the Western State Conference slate.

BC promptly scored 15 of the next 16 points.

Led by the hard-swinging Tia Jules, who matched a career high with 18 kills on the night (accomplishing it in four sets for the first time), and backed up by strong serving from Kya Jones and Monet Panther, the Renegades scored in practically every conceivable way to wrap up that third set, cruised through the fourth and picked up a handy 3-1 victory to improve to 8-7 on the year.

At least for the moment, they weathered the loss of Marion, one of the team leaders on the floor.

"We've dealt with adversity this year, we've had some injuries," BC coach Carl Ferreira said. "But Kami's a big, big part of our program, has been for the past two years. Really, the players wanted to rally and play for her more than anything. Hopefully she'll be OK.

"But more than anything I'm glad we found a way to recover after the first-set loss, and losing Kami, to come out with the win."

BC was forced to change from a 6-2 to a 5-1 formation mid-match to provide more opportunities for setter Aubree Dees to hit, Ferreira said, and the Renegades also gave more playing time to defensive specialist Samantha Villanueva as the night progressed.

But Jules, the sophomore from Porterville-Monache, was extremely reliable on offense throughout.

"Our setters, I thought, did a great job finding her, and she's pretty much unstoppable if we can pass well and get her the ball," Ferreira said. "She moves the ball around real well, has got one of the fastest arm swings in the state."

The Wildcats got production from a wide variety of sources and benefited from some sloppy play early by the Renegades. Freshman middle blockers Sydnee Breda-Nixon and Morgan Knight carried much of the load on offense, with Breda-Nixon tallying three kills early in the fourth set to try to stop BC from pulling away.

But after opening up a 5-0 lead with Jones serving to start the set, the Renegades never saw their margin dip below three points again. BC's five service errors were the most effective way for West LA to side-out, although an errant serve from West LA libero Samantha Cruz ultimately provided the match point for the Renegades. The final result was 23-25, 25-18, 25-15, 25-18.

The pace of play late Wednesday night formed a stark contrast with the first set. Tied 6-6 early on, the Wildcats scored eight in a row with Taliyah Davis serving, including a pair of aces, before Ferreira called timeout to stop the bleeding. Alexandra Johnson, who finished with 10 kills on the night, won some key points and a lucky deflection to help cut the deficit to 17-12, then after West LA began to lose focus, BC won four of five points to take the lead on an emphatic Makena Knapp kill at 21-20.

But momentum hadn't shifted quite far enough for the Renegades to win the set. Their only remaining points came on a pair of service errors, and the Wildcats claimed the 1-0 lead on a Knight kill and an attack error.

Though it wasn't quite as momentous as the third-set streak, BC also used an early run to seize control in the second frame, scoring six straight — including three kills from Jules and one excellent cross-court shot by Haley Tedrow — as the Wildcats struggled to return Jones' serves and fell behind 15-7. Though West LA nearly matched it with a run of its own, using kills from Davis and Lorraine Bruce and a Cruz ace, BC retained the lead on its way to a 25-18 victory.

The one bump in the road had come with BC leading 23-16, when instead of finishing off a well-placed set like she had earlier in the match, Marion turned away from the ball and hobbled off the court, going down to the floor before getting lifted onto the training table a few moments later.

Marion's injury didn't affect the outcome, between Jules' heroics and a general lack of offense from the Wildcats (they had just three total kills in the third set), but it could hamper BC as it proceeds deeper into its conference schedule, which continues Friday at home against Santa Monica.

Reporter Henry Greenstein can be reached at 661-395-7374. Follow him on Twitter: @HenryGreenstein.