The South Puget Sound Community College volleyball team was dominated by Bellevue College 3-0 (15-25, 22-25, 10-25) on the road Tuesday night to fall to 2-3 on the young season.
SPSCC never led in the first set, only led 1-0 in the second set, and briefly held an early lead in the third set, but the Bulldogs used several big runs to punish the Clippers.
In the opening frame, a 4-0 run helped SPSCC tie the score at 9-9 before Bellevue rattled off seven consecutive points, capitalizing on the Clippers’ attacking and passing mistakes. The Clippers couldn’t pull any closer than six points and fell 25-15.
After SPSCC’s Victoria Valenti blocked an attack for the first point of the second set, Bellevue scored five unanswered and 10 of the next 12 points to take a 10-3 advantage. Valenti and Kylee Phillips helped the Clippers claw back to within two on multiple occasions, and they even tied the score at 21-21 following an 8-2 run capped off by three straight aces by Valenti.
But attack errors harmed SPSCC in the waning moments of the second set, and the Bulldogs pulled away 25-22.
SPSCC scored the first two points of the third set and led 3-2, but the Clippers could only muster up seven points in the rest of the stanza.
Phillips led the Clippers with six kills, while Valenti finished with five kills and five service aces. Jessie McCoy dished out 16 assists and blocked one attack.
SPSCC opened the season with a 1-1 trip to Whatcom College in the North Region Invite on Aug. 21, falling 3-1 (19-25, 10-25, 25-22, 13-25) to Everett before earning its first win of the fall against Whatcom 3-2 (25-23, 24-26, 16-25, 25-20, 15-10).
The Clippers then split two matches at Skagit Valley College in Mount Vernon the next day, first beating Shoreline 3-1 (25-13, 18-25, 25-17, 25-20) and falling to Skagit Valley 3-1 (12-25, 25-23, 23-25, 17-25).
SPSCC’s next match is its home opener against Olympic on Wednesday, Sept. 2 at 3 p.m.
