Both Dos Pueblos and Santa Barbara High got a chance to play the top-ranked girls volleyball team in the nation on its home turf on Saturday, and while neither local program could upset Archbishop Mitty, they’ll come back with a whole heap of confidence heading into the Channel League season.
Dos Pueblos finished second in the Monarchs’ tourney after downing Florida’s Berkeley Prep in the morning 25-23, 25-15, 24-26, 25-19. Then came the championship match against Archbishop Mitty, which ended in a 25-15, 27-29, 25-13, 25-23 loss.
Carly Wopat had 17 kills in the match while Sam Wopat added nine and Taylor Racich had seven.
“We played great. I couldn’t be more proud of our team and how we pulled out that second game. I think there were six game points,” said coach Todd Garrett. “We weren’t intimidated at all by who was across the net.”
Santa Barbara played the same two teams on Saturday but in reverse order. After losing to the Monarchs 25=13, 25-10, 25-9 in the semifinals, the Dons won their third 5-set decision of the two-day tournament, beating Berkeley Prep 25-20, 17-25, 22-25, 25-20, 15-12.
Eve Ettinger tallied 26 kills while Dani Rottman continued to impress in the absence of her older sister, notching 10 kills with 17 digs. Dani Rottman, a sophomore, has stepped up as senior Emily Rottman has been ill.
“She’s definitely got some game. I think Emmy’s pretty proud of Dani,” said coach John Gannon.
Gannon described a particular play made by senior setter Rose Lewis in the fifth set as “quite possibly the greatest dig of all time.”
He then deferred to assistant Lee Carlander for the play-by-play.
“The girl just rockets a ball down the line that was just careening for Rose’s grill. She put her deer paws up just in time for the dig to keep the rally alive,” he said.
Special congratulations also went out to Jordan Fuller, who forgot her shoes back in Santa Barbara but managed to keep it a secret from Gannon until after the tournament ended. Carlander said that she warmed up for the first match in low-top Chuck Taylors before borrowing Emily Rottman’s shoes, which were a half-size too small.
“She played well, so we think it was the magic of Emily’s shoes,” said Carlander.
In all seriousness, Gannon said that the weekend will work wonders for the Dons, who are 4-0 in 5-set matches this year already after going 0-2 in them last season.
Garrett added that Paige Crane was outstanding for Dos Pueblos all weekend, setting a 5-1 offense while fellow setter Sammie Brown is in England competing at the FIVB Junior Beach World Championship. Garrett also praised DP senior Will McCracken for an exceptional job as assistant coach at the tournament, and said that Sally Yingst continued to play outstanding defense.
The Chargers (6-1) open up league play at Ventura on Thursday while the Dons (9-1) play at Harvard-Westlake on Tuesday.
