City College women’s volleyball home opener was crashed by No. 10 Bakersfield, sweeping the Vaqueros Wednesday night at the Sports Pavilion, 25-14, 25-14, 25-18.

Sophomore Emily Banas was the Vaqueros centerpiece with 6 kills and 5 digs and freshman Jenna Anderson added 4 kills and 6 digs while hitting .400 for the match but the Vaqueros couldn’t pull out the victory.

“Bakersfield is obviously a good team. If you look at the state rankings they are up there,” said head coach Ed Gover. “We don’t hide from anybody. We’ll take our lumps in the preseason and our goal is to get our ticket to the dance and conference.”

The Vaqueros looked lost at many points in the match, and the Renegades took advantage of City College mistakes.

“I think it was just frustration. We didn’t know what was going on. We didn’t know what to say, everyone was playing kind of timid and scared,” Banas said. “Once we work more as a team we will be able to get passed that.”

Bakersfield (7-2) was lead by hitter Caitlin Bernardin, who figured out the Vaqueros (4-6) early and often.

“It was pretty difficult, we just have to work on our blocks and get [Bernardin] on the angle,” said sophomore Bianca Castro. “She’s a very good hitter and she would hit around our blocks.”

Castro, a returning All-Conference hitter was a force in the second and third games with the help of Banas’ setting, leading the Vaqueros on 9 point and 7 point runs respectively.

“We found Bianca finally. That was one of our goals,” Gover said. “Emily came alive down the line and found her rhythm. We got it a little late, but at least we are starting to find it.”

Four of City College’s first six games pitted them against opponents ranked higher than 13 in the state. Since Wednesday, the No. 19 ranked Vaqueros won the consolation title at L.A. Pierce tournament, knocking off Palomar and Saddleback in consecutive sweeps.

The Vaqueros travel to Canyons on Wednesday for a 6 p.m. match.