The City College women’s volleyball team won its 12th consecutive game against Citrus College, 3-1, Friday night in the Sports Pavilion.

“It was a good win tonight. We attacked our game plan and played very well overall as a team,” said Kiana Pisula, (No. 5) setter for City College.

The Vaqueros started off strong with a 25-17 point win on their first set and although Citrus took the second match, City College closed with the lead in the third and fourth sets.

“I learned to respect the team on the other side, and to not take them for granted because you never know what they’re going to come out with,” said Kaylene Ureno, (No. 4). “They battled really hard tonight.

“It was a little rocky, not going to lie.”

Ureno plays as an opposite, and played throughout every set in the game. She was recently awarded female Athlete of the Week by the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table.

“I think we did a good job coming back at the end bringing the energy up. We need to learn that our momentum is what is going to win us games,” said Ureno. “We need to start strong and finish strong.”

Karissa Mertens (No. 13), outside hitter for City College, also said that high energy was key in coming back after the second set. She added that focusing on their hits and being disciplined were also key factors in the match.

“We have a good team. It was a good game, and fun too,” Mertens said.

City College head coach Ed Gover said he believed that their libero, Avery Mulvey (No. 6), was what brought them to this win.

“She was the steady force this whole game, great digs, great passes and energy.

“Avery dug their hitter over and over, and didn’t let them score. She was very instrumental in this win,”

Mulvey (no. 6) said her strategy is to stay disciplined in the back so that the people in the front row can do their best.

“Our team motivates each other.  I like to keep up the energy. I know it rubs off on each other.” said Mulvey.

“I thought it was a really good game. We always end up pulling through as a team,” Mulvey added.

The score the fourth set was neck and neck. Both teams took the lead at different points throughout it.

The audience was very quiet when the Head Coach from Citrus, Shin Jung, shouted at the referee, “Can we get a little help here,” after he felt an unfair line call was made by another referee. The referee that was shouted at asked Jung to sit down and Jung said, “This is BS.”

The Vaqueros did not let the tension get to them and closed out that fourth set with a 6 point lead against Citrus.

“It was a game with runs by both teams,” said Gover. “I think our runs really stepped up and separated us from them,”

City College will play next at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13, against Ventura College.

The game will open up Western State Conference play.

City College, currently ranked sixth in the state, will look to make it six consecutive conference titles.