Thanks to graduation, the starting lineups for the boys volleyball programs at Santa Barbara and San Marcos have had to hit the refresh button this year. That can lead to some uncertainty, particularly for the Dons, who are coming off of a fifth consecutive undefeated Channel League season.
“It’s definitely been weird for me, because I’m always used to playing with the big guys and all of a sudden I’m the big guy and we have all these young kids on our team,” said senior Alec Smyth, who pounded a match-high 20 kills as the Dons beat the Royals in four sets at Maury Halleck Gym on Thursday. Game scores were 25-20, 24-26, 25-15, 25-16.
San Marcos, which is also working with an overhauled lineup, had early leads in the first, second and fourth sets but was only able to fend off the Dons in a neck-and-neck second frame. Disappointed coach Roger Kuntz said that the Dons’ defense played a big role.
San Marcos' Ian McFarlane hits through Santa Barbara's Austin Reiter, left, and Holden Ploch.
“I thought they played outstanding defense tonight,” he said. “I thought that our libero, Kyle Estabrooks, played well and that Jackson Kunz, one of our two captains, did a good job for us tonight. That’s probably about it.”
The Royals jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the first set, but Santa Barbara went on a 7-2 run to tie things up at 10 apiece. Smyth had kills on the final three Dons’ points of that stretch, including a left-side set that he bombed down the line on the equalizing point.
Santa Barbara started to pull away late in the game and took a 20-16 edge, but San Marcos rallied and won the next three points, capped by an ace from Zach Yinger. The Royals were not able to tie it up, however, and the set ended up finishing on two consecutive unforced San Marcos errors.
Inexperience on both sides showed itself at the start of the second, as seven of the first eight points were decided by errors. Smyth erased a 10-7 San Marcos lead with three consecutive kills fro the left side, and Clifford Anderson buried a quick-set in the middle to put the Dons up 11-10. Later in the game, Kunz put down two kills and a solo block over a 4-point stretch that forced a Dons timeout with San Marcos leading 23-19.
Santa Barbara wouldn’t quit, however, as sophomore setter Gavin Trudeau went to the service line and didn’t leave it until the Dons had roared all the way back to game-point with a 24-23 lead. Josh Guild put down a back-set to tie the score, which was followed by a Kunz ace and another Guild kill to tie the match at 1-1.
Each team mounted a six-point run in the set, looking far from stable and prone to letdowns.
“You’ve gotta sit back a little bit more, and kind of take a deep breath and let these guys figure it out for themselves,” said Arneson of handling the dynamics of an unseasoned squad.
The Dons dominated the third set, arriving at game point with at 24-12 advantage. A Kunz kill gave the Royals a 10-8 lead in the fourth, but a six-point run by the Dons midway through the game allowed Santa Barbara to cruise home.
Anderson finished with nine blocks while Austin Reiter had five and Holden Ploch added four. Ploch also had six kills for the Dons.
Both teams will be at the Thunderdome for the Dos Pueblos Invitational on Saturday. Santa Barbara didn’t play in the tourney last year, but won the three previous titles before that.
“This is a new team, so it’s gonna be a challenge,” said Arneson. “DP’s got a great team, so it should be a good challenge for us.”
The Dons are 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the Channel League, while San Marcos is now 5-2, 0-1.
