Los Padres League victory number 137 in a row did not figure to take long for the Santa Ynez boys volleyball team to accomplish Tuesday night.

It didn/t.

The Pirates swept Santa Maria 25-4, 25-8, 25-11 in 44 minutes at Santa Maria/s Wilson Gym. Santa Ynez is 8-0, 24-3. Santa Maria is 0-8, 3-20. Both teams have one league match left. Santa Ynez has long since wrapped up another league title.

"We play at St. Joseph Friday night, and hopefully we can finish strong," said Santa Maria coach Aaron Fischer. "We took them to five (games) last time." The match starts at 6 p.m.

"It/s been an up-and-down season," Fischer said. "It/s hard when not everyone goes to practice and you try to figure out what lineup you/ll have on the floor." The Saints had just one reserve Tuesday evening.

Besides having superior numbers, the Pirates were far superior in volleyball seasoning.

"We/d played Santa Maria a couple of times before, so we kind of knew what to expect," said Santa Ynez coach Chip Fenenga. "Santa Maria/s a game team. We just have a little more experience."

David Noonan of Santa Ynez was the match kill leader with nine. Sutton Clark and Carson Clark had five each.

Fenenga had ample opportunity to play everyone, and he took full advantage.

For example, "Erik Glendinning/s our setter for the future, and we played him tonight," Fenenga said. "Nate Urton/s our starting setter, but we told Nate we wanted to give Erik playing time tonight."

The Pirates had a solid .431 kill percentage, racking up 31 kills as a team.

The Saints looked tight in a first game that took 11 minutes.

Santa Maria/s play picked up after that, and seniors Andy Chart and Mark Garin gave the Saints some good hitting and defensive hustle. But the Saints simply couldn/t match Santa Ynez/s all-around game.

Santa Ynez put this match away quickly with some big serving runs. Sutton Clark served eight consecutive points in the first game, and Urton served six straight later that game.

In the second game, Jordan Oams served seven consecutive points, and Glendinning served five. Greg Bridgeman served five straight points in game three.

The Saints honored their three seniors, Garin, Chart and Dario Aguilera.

SJ 3, Morro Bay 1

The Knights (3-5, 6-10) took this close LPL match 23-25, 26-24, 25-20, 26-24 at Hofschulte Gym.

Matt Segura racked up 18 kills for the Knights. Stewart Kussler and Charlie Sheaff had 13 each. St. Joseph setter Tyler Veglia doled out 44 assists.

Righetti 3, Arroyo Grande 1

ARROYO GRANDE 7 The Warriors (5-3, 10-11) made their short journey north fruitful by winning this PAC-5 League match 25-14, 18-25, 25-21, 25-23.

Righetti has locked up second place and a playoff spot.

Shane Davis smacked 16 kills for Righetti, and Shaun Gutierrez had 12. The Warriors play their regular season finale at front-runner San Luis Obispo at 6 p.m. Friday.

Baseball

SY 9, Nipomo 6

SANTA YNEZ 7 The Pirates won this one on Krys Cash/s walk off three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh after the Titans had tied the game with four runs in the top of the inning.

Santa Ynez (3-6, 10-12) won its second straight and kept its slim playoff hopes alive. Nipomo (4-5-1, 7-14-1) lost its third straight. Each league team plays 12 league games.

Zach Steele hit a three-run home run for the Pirates in the third inning. Santa Ynez starting pitcher Jason Lambert struck out nine in his six innings of work. He has 52 strikeouts in 48 innings pitched this year. Lambert allowed one earned run.

Samm Spears doubled twice for Nipomo, which hosts Morro Bay at 4 p.m. Friday. Santa Ynez plays at Lompoc the same day and time.

St. Joseph 12, Morro Bay 6

MORRO BAY 7 The Knights (6-3, 9-14) moved into first place by a half game over Lompoc in the wide open LPL race.

St. Joseph has won all of its three second-round games. Morro Bay is 3-7, 9-14 and out of the playoff hunt.

Brian McConkey drove in four runs for the Knights. Dan Hinden drove in three. Josh Meagher doubled twice.

St. Joseph plays at 6 p.m. Friday at Elks Field against Santa Maria. A pre-game ceremony in which Santa Maria graduate Bryn Smith/s No. 28 Santa Maria baseball jersey will be retired is scheduled for 5:45 p.m.

Smith is a former long-time major league pitcher. He is now an assistant baseball coach at Hancock College and is set to manager the Santa Maria Indians semi-pro baseball team this summer.

Cabrillo 11, Lompoc 10

VANDENBERG VILLAGE 7 The Conquistadores scored seven runs in the second inning to grab a five-run lead and then hung on to win.

Lydell Sargeant and Britton Butterfield both hit two-run home runs for the Conquistadores (15-9 overall). Cabrillo sits in third place, a half game ahead of idle Santa Maria. Lompoc is 5-3-1, 8-12-1. Cabrillo took its season series with Lompoc.

Paso Robles 4, RHS 3

PASO ROBLES 7 The Warriors (8-5, 16-9) lost for the third time in four tries against the last-place team in the league, so Righetti did not clinch a PAC-5 League playoff spot.

Paso Robles is 4-9, 10-15. This time, the Bearcats won in eight innings. The game began the final round of league games. Final-round games are PAC-5 Tournament games.

Blaine Wilson hit a two-run home run for Righetti, which remains in first place, a game ahead of idle Atascadero.

VCA 14, NCC 11

The Lions (6-3, 7-7) made 11 errors and still won this Coast Valley League home game.

Brian Mahoney won the game for Valley Christian Academy with a three-run homer in the seventh. Winning pitcher David Kiger doubled twice.

Softball

Lompoc 1, Cabrillo 0

VANDENBERG VILLAGE 7 Ashley McDonough won a pitching duel with Brooke Brockett, and the Braves moved into first place in the LPL.

Lompoc is 8-1, 13-3-1. Cabrillo is 8-2, 15-6-1.

McDonough struck out seven and walked one. Brockett struck out 12 and walked one. Erin Cabral of Cabrillo doubled for the only extra base hit.

St. Joseph 5, Morro Bay 3

MORRO BAY 7 The Knights tied the game on Jaimey Kleinsmith/s single in the sixth and won it on starting pitcher Katie Dering/s double that scored Kleinsmith.

St. Joseph is 7-2, 11-10-1. Morro Bay dropped to 2-8, 6-16.

VCA 10, NCC 0

At Valley Christian Academy, Lions pitcher Christine Regalado threw her sixth no-hitter this season.

The Lions (12-0, 15-5) are now a game away from clinching the Coast Valley League championship. They host Shandon at 3:30 p.m. Friday.

Quetzel Paniagua hit a two-run double for VCA, and Michelle Rivas doubled in a run. Serina Gomez went 2-for-3, and Regalado helped herself by doubling.

Tennis

AG 9, Righetti 9 (86-80 AG)

The Eagles won this match by winning 86 games to the Warriors/ 80.

Righetti fell to 3-9, 5-14 with the home loss. The regular season ended Tuesday. The PAC-5 League tournament takes place Thursday and Friday at San Luis Obispo.

Rikin Tank swept his singles matches for Righetti Tuesday, and Tim Rapson and Jason Anderson swept in doubles.

Santa Ynez 15, SJ 3

Santa Ynez/s doubles tandems of Erik Reif and Nick Keller, Garrett Gunning and Steven Sauer each swept three matches on the St. Joseph courts in the regular season finale.

Graham Ortiz scored the Knights/ points by sweeping his singles matches. Santa Ynez finished second to Lompoc during the regular season. Cabrillo finished third for the final league team playoff spot.

The LPL Tournament takes place Friday and Saturday at Cabrillo.

Templeton 10, Cabrillo 8

VANDENBERG VILLAGE 7 Templeton/s one-two singles punch of Ben Squires and Forrest Hunt was too much for the Conquistadores in this non-league match. The pair swept their matches, and lost three games between them.

Clai Fields and Edgar Chavez swept three doubles matches for Cabrillo.

May 05, 2004