Dos Pueblos went unbeaten, Santa Barbara lost a thriller to go 1-1 and San Marcos played some of its best volleyball of the season Friday during an exhausting 12 hours of elite-level girls volleyball at the Tournament of Champions.
The Chargers swept a feisty Liberty squad 25-18, 25-23, 25-20 thanks to nine kills apiece from Carly Wopat and Taylor Racich. Wopat added five blocks, and Racich — a sophomore lefty — tallied her nine put-aways on just 15 attempts with no errors.
The youngster continued to shine in the Chargers’ thrilling 25-19, 20-25, 29-27, 25-19 quarterfinal victory over Harvard-Westlake. She had 11 kills on 20 attempts with just two errors. Megan Smith had 24 digs, including an incredible one-armed stab dig late in the fourth game. Sammie Brown ended the point with a roof block that gave the Chargers a 22-19 lead. Smith had aced the point before, and DP ended up scoring the final six points of the match.
Sam Wopat, left, and Carly Wopat, right, cross arms but get the dig up against Harvard-Westlake
“Liberty made us want to come out really strong. Our coach got mad at us because it wasn’t really our best match at all, so in this second one we just got really pumped,” said Racich. “We always do that. When we drop down a little bit we bring it right back up.”
The Wolverines had game point at 24-23 in the third game, and Brown showed immense confidence in the sophomore by setting her on the right side. She buried it.
Sam Wopat had an ace and a kill to give DP game point at 26-25, but it was tied up twice more before Sally Yingst blasted a cross-court kill from the left side to put the set to rest.
The Chargers will play Newport Beach in the semifinals at Sovine Gym at 10:45 a.m. Saturday. Santa Barbara will play Long Beach Wilson at the same time at J.R Richards Gym. San Marcos plays at DP at 9 a.m.
The Dons saw a 2-0 lead turn into a 5-set loss against Corona del Mar in their first round match, with game scores of 23-25, 25-27, 26-24, 25-23, 15-9.
“I think that team’s a really good team. That’s a team with seniors and you could see how disciplined they are,” said Santa Barbara coach John Gannon. “We definitely had more kills than them on the outside, but they won the match in the middle… We had our lapses and weren’t able to buckle down mentally. We played good volleyball, but it’s hard for high school kids to really buckle down mentally sometime.”
San Marcos, meanwhile, played tough against the nation’s top-ranked team. Archbishop Mitty, and was swept 25-14, 25-15, 25-16.
“We weren’t nervous. It’s great to play a team that good because it makes us better,” said sophomore outside hitter Katherine Crook, who led the Royals in kills in the match.
The Dons and Royals then squared off in the afternoon, with Santa Barbara sweeping 25-18, 25-15, 25-20. Emily Rottman put away nine kills and libero Sarah Mendoza returned from illness to collect nine digs. San Marcos was led by five kills from Paulina King and four kills with three stuff blocks from Jaimie Mayner.
Gannon was full of praise for the Royals, who have struggled this year and are still looking for their first win in the Channel League.
“They keep getting better… They play with a passion for the game that’s increased throughout the season, and that’s commendable because it’s easy to get down on yourselves when you’re not having a winning season,” he said. “I think that’s a compliment to (coaches) Courtney (Preston), Erica (Downing) and Sarah (Preston).”
Santa Barbara’s morning match against the Bruins is one that Gannon is really looking forward to, and for good reason.
“This will be the fourth year in a row that we play Long Beach Wilson in our own tournament, and we’re 0-3. We want this team. We want to get after this team and really show that we can compete with them… Those girls always play hard,” he said.
Archbishop Mitty is in the other semifinal and will play La Costa Canyon. If DP and Mitty both win, it’ll be a marquee matchup in the finals at 6:15 p.m.
Keep visiting PresidioSports.com throughout the day Saturday for updates on all three local teams in the tournament.
Mitty will rule once again…go Monarchs! The defending national champions looking to make it two in a row!!!
Mitty will rule once again…go Monarchs! The defending national champions looking to make it two in a row!!!