Carly Wopat pounded 21 kills Thursday as the Dos Pueblos girls volleyball team invaded San Marcos’ Thunderhut and took home a 25-14, 25-16, 19-25, 25-10 win.
Twin-sister Samantha tacked on 10 kills, and DP showed its potency on offense.
“We match up well with a lot of teams across California, but DP is one of the best teams in the country,” said Royals coach Roger Kuntz. “They’ve got a tremendous amount of arm-swings, they’ve got great setting and they’ve got girls playing at a very high level. When they want to bring it, they can.”
It’s a choose-your-weapon scenario for the Chargers’ two setters, Paige Crane and Sami Brown, as DP has a heap of hitters, such as Pepperdine-bound outside hitter Caitlin Racich, to feed the ball to.
Crane and Brown combined for 51 assists and 16 digs on the night.
“We’re really strong offensively, for sure… It’s the passing and defense that we’re always trying to imrpove,” said DP coach Dwayne Hauschild. “Flo Chardon hit lot of balls tonight, but we dug a vast majority of them if we weren’t blocking them.”
Chardon, a hard-hitting junior, led the Royals with 12 kills and middle blocker Jenn Waddill added 11, but Kuntz was not pleased with his team’s ball control.
“Our ball control was terrible tonight. Our pass was not very good and that’s been a real staple of us the past few weeks… You’ve got to be in system against a team like that to stand a chance,” said Kuntz.
Kuntz acknowledged that his bak row, anchored by talented but young players, may have been a little intimidated while playing against such a hard-hitting offense. Sophomore Emma Campbell still managed 12 digs.
The Chargers (11-2, 3-0 Channel League) host Santa Barbara in a much-anticipated showdown at Sovine Gym on Thursday. The Royals (7-5, 1-1), who have battled back from an 0-2 start, have the first shot at the Dons and will be at J.R. Richards Gym on Tuesday for a crosstown rivalry match.
