Santa Barbara City College Fall Sports Preview
Football, Soccer, and Women’s Volleyball
Are All Headed Our Way
By Victor Bryant | August 28, 2023
The fall sports season at SBCC is already underway, and building on last season’s success is the top priority for the football, women’s volleyball, men’s soccer, and women’s soccer teams.
Football
Coming off a 10-1 season, the SBCC football team is on the brink of emerging as a powerhouse in Southern California, but the Vaqueros must overcome their most significant challenge to date: a huge uptick in competition.
The Vaqueros will be moving from the American Pacific League to the National Northern League, which includes Allan Hancock, Antelope Valley, Bakersfield, Canyons, El Camino, Moorpark, and Ventura.
“You respond to a challenge, and if we do that, then I’ll be proud of them. They’re young; we put out about 22 guys that transferred off last year’s team, so it’s a fairly new group,” Coach Craig Moropoulos said. “We’ve talked about nothing but the challenges and the level they’re going to have to play out, so it’s good that we have a couple games to get our feet wet, so to speak.”
The season begins on September 2 at Fullerton College, which is ranked in the top three nationally. The Hornets will be hosting their first game ever in their new on-campus stadium in what has been deemed the first annual Sherbeck Football Classic.
On September 9, the Vaqueros will host Saddleback College — a top program in Southern California for decades — and will then conclude the non-conference schedule on September 16 against Orange Coast College.
The SBCC defense is headlined by returning defensive lineman Grant Hessler. Matt Croteau and Keenan Stokes are linebackers that will be counted on to produce. Terrance Biser-Coleman is a sophomore who will be among the leaders in the secondary.
On offense, 6’5″ freshman Will Doherty from Leuzinger High School in Los Angeles will be the starting quarterback. He threw four touchdown passes in a scrimmage against Reedley College last week and is excited for the opportunity.
“It has been a lot of fun. This offense is catered 100 percent to the quarterback,” Doherty said. “It’s huge to have a bunch of checks. Every play, we have the opportunity to change it to whatever look works best. It’s been a great opportunity to come here at a beautiful spot to play and a great coach to play under.”
This year’s team has a fair share of Santa Barbara–area players, led by freshman running back Andre McCullough, who will be a part of a deep running back rotation. Fellow San Marcos player Benji Rodriguez is also on the roster.
Ryan Holguin of Santa Barbara High and Ivan Medina-Lule from Dos Pueblos will provide 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 plays defensive line.
“We love local players,” Moropoulos said. “It’s an opportunity to continue playing football.”
Women’s Volleyball
The Vaqueros are coming off back-to-back trips to the regional finals and are looking to take the next step this season with a talented, but relatively inexperienced, roster.
SBCC has seven players returning from last season. Head coach Kat Niksto is in her fifth season leading the program and is excited for the journey ahead.
“This year is definitely different. We are significantly younger with 12 freshmen, so our new girls outnumber our returners,” Niksto said. “I think that makes it super exciting. I think we have a ton of potential as a team, but we are going to be a lot younger than we have been in previous years, so there’s going to be a lot more learning throughout the year.”
Alexis Zevenbergen is a key piece at middle blocker after being injured for much of last season. Heidi Collins is a returning outside hitter who was forced to play middle blocker due to Zevenbergen’s injury and will be looking to flourish in her natural position.
Niksto considers depth to be a strength of the team, as there are multiple players with the ability to continue at each position.
“They are very dedicated, and they are brought into our goal, which is to get back to the regional final again and push through to make it to that state tournament,” Niksto said. “We have depth in all positions, and I think that’s really going to be our strength.”
The Vaqueros opened the season this weekend with SBCC Tri-Tourney on Friday and split two matches, defeating Chaffey (25-10, 25-15, 25-13) and losing to Grossmont (25-22, 25-19, 19-25, 25-23). At the Bakersfield Quad Tournament on Saturday, SBCC defeated El Camino (25-19, 25-22, 25-22).
Men’s Soccer
Alexander Zermeno will take over as the head coach for SBCC men’s and women’s soccer. He served as an assistant under longtime head coach John Sisterson over the last two seasons.
Before his time at SBCC, Zermeno was an assistant coach at Southern Utah University. He has also been developing young players at Santa Barbara Soccer Club since 2014. On the men’s side, the team will be made up primarily of players from Santa Barbara County.
“If you look at our roster, it’s going from more than half the players coming from out of the state or out of the country to 70 percent local players,” Zermeno said. “I thought I could impact both teams and help players in the community get a chance to play. I mean, that is what a community college is about.”
At age 23, Angel Diaz is coming back to school to give it a shot. He is a San Marcos High product and a local legend. Sebastian Rodriguez is a 22-year-old who played at Dos Pueblos and will be a key contributor.
Charley Retzer, a transfer from Oakland University, and Brandon Garcia de la Fuente are two wingers who bring a high skill level and experience.
The Vaqueros won their season opener on Friday, August 25, at L.A. Harbor with a score of 2-1 on a spectacular free kick by Retzer in the final moments.
Women’s Soccer
The SBCC women’s team advanced to the SoCal Regional Semis last season, where they lost 1-0 to Santiago Canyon.
First team all-conference midfielder Gizela Zermeno returns to lead the defense. She scored in a scrimmage against Westmont on August 18 and is currently in top form after starting every game last season.
Athena Bow-Graham is a technically sound midfielder who contributed heavily last season and received all-conference honorable mention. Alyssa Placido is a freshman forward whom Zermeno is looking toward to take on a huge role.
“I’m excited. This group of players on the men’s and women’s side are competitive, and they want to win,” Zermeno said. “The culture is a big thing that we’ve been changing in trying to get these teams to take a liking to being in Santa Barbara not just with soccer, but exploring the community.”
The SBCC women’s soccer team tied L.A. Harbor in its season opener 1-1 on Friday, August 25.
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