The Conquistadores struck first in the opening Lompoc-Cabrillo Los Padres League crosstown showdown of the fall season, winning in both girls volleyball and boys water polo.

At Lompoc High, the Conqs spikers jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first game and never looked back 7 winning the volleyball match in three straight, 25-15, 25-19, 25-20.

Cabrillo standout Jessica Kennedy, a returning all-leaguer, sparked the Conqs/ victory 7 finishing with team highs of 10 kills, five serving aces, and 24 digs.

Kennedy brought the match to a close as she turned a three-point lead in the third game into a solid 23-16 margin with a kill, an ace, a kill, and an ace.

Two plays later her final kill brought Cabrillo to 24 points from where a long ball by Lompoc ended the contest.

A standout in soccer where she plays both goalie and in the field, and an outfielder in softball, she may best be seen taking charge of a game on the volleyball court.

&#8221All three sports have their own type of adrenaliin,B she said later. &#8221That/s the thrill for me. Especially tonight because we were playing our rivals. Lompoc is always a game I want to take home.B

Jessica Shekell came up with 21 digs, made four kills and three solo blocks, setter Mariam Malae added five kills, eight digs and 15 assists, and libero Amanda Sprague totalled 17digs.

The victory squares Cabrillo/s LPL record at 3-3, 4-6 overall, and at least in Kennedy/s mind, puts the Conqs in position to challenge the top teams.

&#8221In the beginning we were out of sync,B she said. &#8221We/re confident now.B

The Conqs travel to defending champion Nipomo on Tuesday.

It was Lompoc/s ninth straight defeat, sixth straight in league, without a victory.

For Lompoc Katelyn Lynch had seven kills, Megan Michel added four kills, Alyssa Ray had six digs, assist leader was Laura Schelvis 10.

&#8221In the beginning of every game we were able to play well,B said Lompoc coach Don Savella. &#8221 But in our ability to sustain that we fall short. We had an unacceptable level of missed serves.B

Cabrillo won the JV contest 25-19 and 25-14 and the frosh 25-18 and 25-13.

LPL water polo

Cabrillo 19, Lompoc 5

At Cabrillo in the annual under-the-lights game the Conqs shut down the winless Braves until the scoreboard read 15-1 in the fourth quarter.

Ethan Hadley led Cabrillo with six goals, five ejections drawn and three steals, while Joey Gullickson added four goals, four assists and five steals, Byron Mikowicz five goals and six assists, Alex Reyna three goals, Nick Darling one goal, two assists and no less than nine steals.

&#8221His game was phenomenal,B coach Joel Jory said of Darling. &#8221He only had one goal but his defense was great and his getting out on the counter gets other guys goals.B

Goalies Sam Ouimet and Kris Rosson each made four saves in one half of action.

&#8221I challenged the guys defensively,B said Jory. &#8221Our goal was defense first which led to some counter opportunites. The first three quarters we played real tough. It was hard for Lompoc even to get shots off. The guys stpped it up. It was a great atmosphere under the lights.B

Cabrillo is now 2-0 in league 9-9 overall. &#8221We/re inching closer to respectability,B Jory chuckled. Cabrillo plays at Nipomo Tuesday.

For Lompoc sophomore Brad Deegan scored four goals and Sam Holt scored one. Jan Gaboury led the Braves in steals with four.

&#8221Sam had a great game,B said coach Kevin Hicks. &#8221He only had one goal but he drew seven ejections.B Unfortunately the Braves could convert only two of eight advantageous man-up situations.

Goalie Kolten White notched seven blocks and four steals.

&#8221The good news is we/re a young team and we/re drawing those ejections,B said Hicks. &#8221We just need to convert more of our opportunities. We had 15 missed shots. Cabrillo is strong and we can leam from this.B

Lompoc, 0-2 in league, 0-14 overall, plays tomorrow in the Santa Maria Tournament against Paso Robles and Clovis East.

Cabrillo won the JV game 13-1.

Freshman football

Cabrillo 35, Pioneer Valley 7

At Pioneer Valley the visiting Conquistadores won their fifth consecutive game without a loss.

Matt Rotondi ran 30 yards on CHS/ first offensive play, then scored again on a 25-yarder before the Panthers scored on a 71-yard romp but Cabrillo reestablished a three-TD lead before halftime on a pass from Sean Allen to Aaron Naputi of 35 yards.

In the second half David Fraats ran 15 yards on a sweep left for a touchdown and Sean Allen passed to Matt Stoerrle on a 50-yard pass-and-run play to complete the scoring. Stoerrle booted five PAT/s.

Cabrillo defensive tackle David Kulp recovered two fumbles after Noah Moore forced both of them.

&#8221Our defense played well except for that long run,B said coach Bob Radford. &#8221They probably didn/t have more than 100 yards rushing and they had 71 on that one run.B

Cabrillo visits Santa Maria next Thursday.

Lompoc 33, Morro Bay 18

At Morro Bay the Lompoc Braves ran up a 33-6 lead and coasted home to their fifth straight win without defeat.

The Braves broke open a 6-6 tie at halftime by scoring on their first three possessions of the third quarter.

Tailback Bobbie Collins swept left for 40 yards and a touchdown, fullback Favi Vargas found a hole inside and ran for 30 and a score, and Collins swept right from 45 yards out to score again to give Lompoc a 26-6 lead.

In the fourth quarter Scotty Aguailar intercepted a Pirate pass and ran it back nearly 50 yards to the one inch line from where Collins plunged over for Lompoc/s final TD. In the first half Vargas scored on a 45-yard run to open the scoring. Frankie Garcia connected on three of five PAT tries.

&#8221We did really well,B said coach Rick Aguilar who pointed to the play of guard Adam Leach and defensive tackle Julian Vineyard.

&#8221In the first half they were stacking on the strong side for Bobbie so we adjusted by going inside a lot more. Then we could go outside and score.B

The Braves host Santa Ynez next Thursday.

October 7, 2005