SAN MARCOS ALUMS BATTLE ON WEST BEACH SAND
The stands aren’t usually full on the first day of an AVP tournament, but they certainly were on Saturday afternoon on West Beach.
You didn’t have to be one of Santa Barbara’s savvy volleyball fans to know it was a big match.
Just hours after announcing his retirement, Goleta’s Dax Holdren nearly pulled off what would have been a signature victory in his final hometown tournament, as he stared across the net at his former San Marcos High and beach teammate, Todd Rogers.
Rogers and his partner, the 6-foot-9 Phil Dalhausser, are overwhelming favorites at every AVP stop nowadays, and they rarely lose a set, let alone a match. Holdren and his own 6-9 blocker, Billy Strickland, took the first set before running out of gas in a 26-28, 21-17, 15-8 loss that sent the top seeds into Sunday’s semifinals.
San Marcos football coach Dare Holdren, Dax’s cousin, could be heard chanting “one-more-year!” from the top of the grandstands at numerous points in the match. His cousin on the sand would smile and wag his finger. At one point, Dare shouted out that Dax was “like a big, angry mongoose,” getting a laugh from the crowd and players.
The mongoose will try to unleash his fury on Ventura resident Nick Lucena and partner Sean Scott this morning at 9:30 a.m.
Mayor Marty Blum was present to award Rogers and Dalhausser with a letter of recognition from the city for all of their recent achievements, and Rogers took the mic to thank the crowd before finishing with “we love you all.”
On the women’s side, gold-medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, almost lost to Annett Davis and Jenny Johnson-Jordan, but held on for an 18-21, 21-15, 19-17 thriller.
There were plenty of nail-biters on the day. On the men’s side, No. 8 Ryan Mariano and Ed Ratledge needed nearly an hour and a half to get by No. 11 John Mayer and Jeff Nygaard, 24-22, 24-26, 24-22. On the women’s side, Davis and Johnson Jordan lost the first set 34-32 before getting by Angie Akers and Holly McPeak.
The third San Marcos Royal in the tournament, Anthony Medel, was eliminated along with teammate Fred Souza on Saturday and finished tied with four others at the bottom. The stands should be packed once again, especially if Holdren and/or Rogers are present, for Sunday’s 2:30 p.m. men’s final.
