No. 2 Dons keep their footing in sweep of Royals

It’s easy to slip in the rain, but the Santa Barbara High girls volleyball team avoided any kind of slip-up while sweeping San Marcos 25-12, 25-20, 25-19 at J.R. Richards Gym on Tuesday night.

Jordan Fuller led the way with 11 kills for the No. 2 Dons, who got to play everyone on the bench in the match.

“It’s good to get everyone in the game,” said Santa Barbara assistant coach Lee Carlander, who was sporting some custom Olive and Gold Nikes with “SB” stitched on them.

Carlander added that one of the main things he was looking for heading into the match is a high energy output.

Santa Barbara's Jordan Fuller had 11 kills to pace the Dons attack on Tuesday night.

“You want to play to your standard… You’ve gotta bring energy and prepare for every match,” he said.

Katherine Crook’s seven kills led the Royals while libero Emma Campbell tallied 18 digs, but coach Courtney Preston pointed to the same ol’ culprits when talking about her team’s performance.

“We needed to do better with serving and passing… It’s tough playing against the reigning CIF champions,” she said.

The Dons took the lead at 7-6 in the first set and never relinquished it, dominating the game despite seven unforced errors. Emily Rottman put away two pipe sets from the back row in the final five points to put the hosts up 1-0.

Fuller had a kill and two aces in a 4-point span at the beginning of the second game and the Dons jumped out to a 7-2 lead. San Marcos battled back, however, as two aces by Crook gave the visitors a 15-14 lead. Santa Barbara’s second foot-fault of the frame kept the Royals up at 16-15, but the Dons pulled away. Fuller had back-to-back cross-court kills from the left side in the home stretch t seal it.

San Marcos once again had a lead after a block by Jaimie Mayner put the Royals ahead 12-11 in the third, but Fuller responded with an untouched ace to start a 7-point serving run and the Dons never looked back.

Carlander also highlighted the play of Torrie Armstrong (six kills, five digs) and sophomore setter Kira Schleich.

The Dons (12-3, 3-1 Channel League) play in the California Challenge tournament this weekend while the struggling Royals (2-8, 0-4) host Buena on Thursday.