Tired Pierce Two-Timed in Title Bid

The Pierce College volleyball team had lost only twice entering the state junior college championships Friday, but the Brahmas equaled that total at Santa Monica College within a five-hour period.

Pierce (20-4) dropped a pair of five-game matches, losing to Santa Barbara in the semifinals, 8-15, 15-4, 15-11, 12-15, 15-10, and to American River, 8-15, 8-15, 15-9, 15-10, 15-4, in the third-place match.

In the championship match, defending champion Orange Coast (22-2) beat Santa Barbara (20-4), 14-16, 15-13, 15-6, 15-6, to win its third title in four years. The Pirates swept American River in their semifinal, 15-3, 15-13, 15-13.

Seemingly beaten in the fourth game against Santa Barbara, the Brahmas rallied from a 12-4 deficit with 11 consecutive points to force a decisive fifth game.

Pierce, which had beaten Santa Barbara twice during the regular season, took a 5-0 lead in the fifth game but couldn’t hold on.

Chad Blatchley led Pierce with 31 kills against Santa Barbara.

The Brahmas, who won titles in 1986 and 1988, lost to Orange Coast in last year’s final.

The Brahmas fell flat against American River (14-4) after taking a 2-0 lead in games.

“We just died (in the last three games),” said Pierce Coach Ken Stanley, whose team had only 45 minutes to rest between matches. “We played a lot of subs and we got the feeling we couldn’t be beaten. Give (American River) credit, they played great defense.”

The Brahmas fell behind, 8-0, in the third game, closed to 9-7, but could get no closer. In the fourth and fifth games, American River raced to 4-0 and 9-0 advantages and never trailed.

“They looked tired,” American River Coach Brett Sargent said of Pierce. “It took us a while before we believed that we could play with them.”