After sweeping old-nemesis Valencia at J.R. Richards Gym last year, Santa Barbara High’s boys volleyball team got a taste of the Vikings’ vengeance in a 25-19, 25-17, 25-22 road loss on Wednesday.
“Overall they are a young team but a really good team. They’re disciplined, and their passing was on key tonight,” said Santa Barbara coach Chad Arneson.
“I think they wanted to get back at us for last year and we didn’t come too prepared. They wanted it more than us, that’s for sure.”
Alec Smyth led the Dons with 11 kills on the outside while Alex Biedul added five. Arneson also said that Mark Outwater did a nice job on the right side.
A troubling statistic for Santa Barbara (2-1), however, was that standout middle blocker Clifford Anderson was held to just three kills.
“We’ve gotta be able to get our big guy involved more. Our passing wasn’t on and our setters weren’t on,” said Arneson. “We just have to learn from this.”
