Senior Emily Rottman had 21 kills with 15 digs, but the No. 2 Santa Barbara Dons fell 25-21, 15-25, 25-21, 25-19 at No. 6 Huntington Beach in the semifinals of the Div. I-A CIF playoffs on Tuesday.
The Oilers featured a 6-foot-5 middle blocker and a setter who did a nice job dishing the ball around, according to Dons head coach John Gannon. Eve Ettinger had 16 kills with 11 digs and six blocks for the Dons (21-9), while Sarah Mendoza tallied 16 digs and Katherine Keller had 12 with three blocks.
“I couldn’t be happier with this group. They’re just a wonderful group of girls. We had an opportunity to put ourselves in the finals. We didn’t get there, but I still consider this a good end to the season,” said Gannon.
Added senior setter Rose Lewis: “I think we did a lot more than people thought we were capable of this year, and I’m proud of this team.”
Assistant coach Lee Carlander said that from the beginning of the season the team’s lineup was “a little willy-nilly,” and referred to the squad as “team heart-attack” after going to five sets six times during the season.
“Katherine Keller deserves a lot of credit for stepping in an setting like she did this year considering she hadn’t set for very long. And Emily Rottman just carried us to the semifinals. Rose Lewis also provided some big-time leadership for us,” he said.
Rottman is thrilled to continue her career at the University of Virginia next year, but Tuesday night was also, of course, bittersweet.
“We had our high points and our low points this year. We were definitely thinking about making it back to the finals, but overall it was a really good season,” she said. “I’m really excited to move on, but it’s also sad that this was my last high school match.”
