Santa Barbara Metropolis Faculty Fall Sports activities Preview
Soccer, Soccer, and Girls’s Volleyball
Are All Headed Our Manner
By Victor Bryant | August 28, 2023
The autumn sports activities season at SBCC is already underway, and constructing on final season’s success is the highest precedence for the soccer, ladies’s volleyball, males’s soccer, and girls’s soccer groups.
Soccer
Coming off a 10-1 season, the SBCC soccer crew is on the point of rising as a powerhouse in Southern California, however the Vaqueros should overcome their most important problem thus far: an enormous uptick in competitors.
The Vaqueros will probably be transferring from the American Pacific League to the Nationwide Northern League, which incorporates Allan Hancock, Antelope Valley, Bakersfield, Canyons, El Camino, Moorpark, and Ventura.
“You reply to a problem, and if we do this, then I’ll be pleased with them. They’re younger; we put out about 22 guys that transferred off final 12 months’s crew, so it’s a reasonably new group,” Coach Craig Moropoulos mentioned. “We’ve talked about nothing however the challenges and the extent they’re going to need to play out, so it’s good that we now have a pair video games to get our ft moist, so to talk.”
The season begins on September 2 at Fullerton Faculty, which is ranked within the prime three nationally. The Hornets will probably be internet hosting their first sport ever of their new on-campus stadium in what has been deemed the primary annual Sherbeck Soccer Basic.
On September 9, the Vaqueros will host Saddleback Faculty — a prime program in Southern California for many years — and can then conclude the non-conference schedule on September 16 towards Orange Coast Faculty.
The SBCC protection is headlined by returning defensive lineman Grant Hessler. Matt Croteau and Keenan Stokes are linebackers that will probably be counted on to provide. Terrance Biser-Coleman is a sophomore who will probably be among the many leaders within the secondary.
On offense, 6’5″ freshman Will Doherty from Leuzinger Excessive Faculty in Los Angeles would be the beginning quarterback. He threw 4 landing passes in a scrimmage towards Reedley Faculty final week and is worked up for the chance.
“It has been plenty of enjoyable. This offense is catered one hundred pc to the quarterback,” Doherty mentioned. “It’s enormous to have a bunch of checks. Each play, we now have the chance to alter it to no matter look works finest. It’s been an important alternative to return right here at a phenomenal spot to play and an important coach to play beneath.”
This 12 months’s crew has a fair proportion of Santa Barbara–space gamers, led by freshman working again Andre McCullough, who will probably be part of a deep working again rotation. Fellow San Marcos participant Benji Rodriguez can also be on the roster.
Ryan Holguin of Santa Barbara Excessive and Ivan Medina-Lule from Dos Pueblos will present depth on the offensive line, as will Gabe Lopez-Galindo from Bishop Diego. Nicholas Bitar from Dos Pueblos is a 6’3″, 278-pound freshman who performs defensive position.
“We love native gamers,” Moropoulos mentioned. “It’s a possibility to proceed enjoying soccer.”
Girls’s Volleyball
The Vaqueros are coming off back-to-back journeys to the regional finals and wish to take the following step this season with a gifted, however comparatively inexperienced, roster.
SBCC has seven gamers getting back from final season. Head coach Kat Niksto is in her fifth season main this system and is worked up for the journey forward.
“This 12 months is unquestionably totally different. We’re considerably youthful with 12 freshmen, so our new women outnumber our returners,” Niksto mentioned. “I feel that makes it tremendous thrilling. I feel we now have a ton of potential as a crew, however we’re going to be lots youthful than we now have been in earlier years, so there’s going to be much more studying all year long.”
Alexis Zevenbergen is a key piece at center blocker after being injured for a lot of final season. Heidi Collins is a returning exterior hitter who was compelled to play center blocker resulting from Zevenbergen’s damage and will probably be seeking to flourish in her pure place.
Niksto considers depth to be a power of the crew, as there are a number of gamers with the power to proceed at every place.
“They’re very devoted, and they’re introduced into our purpose, which is to get again to the regional closing once more and push by to make it to that state event,” Niksto mentioned. “We now have depth in all positions, and I feel that’s actually going to be our power.”
The Vaqueros opened the season this weekend with SBCC Tri-Tourney on Friday and cut up two matches, defeating Chaffey (25-10, 25-15, 25-13) and shedding to Grossmont (25-22, 25-19, 19-25, 25-23). On the Bakersfield Quad Match on Saturday, SBCC defeated El Camino (25-19, 25-22, 25-22).
Males’s Soccer
Alexander Zermeno will take over as the pinnacle coach for SBCC males’s and girls’s soccer. He served as an assistant beneath longtime head coach John Sisterson during the last two seasons.
Earlier than his time at SBCC, Zermeno was an assistant coach at Southern Utah College. He has additionally been growing younger gamers at Santa Barbara Soccer Membership since 2014. On the lads’s aspect, the crew will probably be made up primarily of gamers from Santa Barbara County.
“If you happen to take a look at our roster, it’s going from greater than half the gamers coming from out of the state or in a foreign country to 70 % native gamers,” Zermeno mentioned. “I assumed I may influence each groups and assist gamers in the neighborhood get an opportunity to play. I imply, that’s what a group school is about.”
At age 23, Angel Diaz is coming again to high school to provide it a shot. He’s a San Marcos Excessive product and an area legend. Sebastian Rodriguez is a 22-year-old who performed at Dos Pueblos and will probably be a key contributor.
Charley Retzer, a switch from Oakland College, and Brandon Garcia de la Fuente are two wingers who carry a excessive ability stage and expertise.
The Vaqueros received their season opener on Friday, August 25, at L.A. Harbor with a rating of 2-1 on a spectacular free kick by Retzer within the closing moments.
Girls’s Soccer
The SBCC ladies’s crew superior to the SoCal Regional Semis final season, the place they misplaced 1-0 to Santiago Canyon.
First crew all-conference midfielder Gizela Zermeno returns to steer the protection. She scored in a scrimmage towards Westmont on August 18 and is presently in prime kind after beginning each sport final season.
Athena Bow-Graham is a technically sound midfielder who contributed closely final season and acquired all-conference honorable point out. Alyssa Placido is a freshman ahead whom Zermeno is wanting towards to tackle an enormous function.
“I’m excited. This group of gamers on the lads’s and girls’s aspect are aggressive, and so they wish to win,” Zermeno mentioned. “The tradition is an enormous factor that we’ve been altering in making an attempt to get these groups to take a liking to being in Santa Barbara not simply with soccer, however exploring the group.”
The SBCC ladies’s soccer crew tied L.A. Harbor in its season opener 1-1 on Friday, August 25.
