It was the best weekend in Dillan Bennett’s young athletic life.
The 19-year-old Santa Barbara East Beach volleyball whiz kid made a name for himself nationwide this weekend by winning two division championships at the U.S. Open of Beach Volleyball at the Manhattan Beach Pier.
On Saturday, Bennett combined with Santa Barbara HIgh boys volleyball team libero Nick Clark to win the Men’s A Division title.
Less than 24 hours later, he joined forces with Dos Pueblos High girls team libero Katie Spieler to capture the Co-ed A championship.
Both Clark and Spieler are juniors in high school
Bennett was the only player during the two-day tournament to claim two U.S. titles.
He played a total of 15 big-court matches that used old-school, sideout scoring. On Saturday, Bennett and Clark reached the final against a team from Dallas. It was already dark, but Bennett and Clark said they were ready to play. The Dallas team, however, declined to play and forfeited the match, Bennett said.
The coed final began at 6:30 p.m. as it was getting dark. Bennett-Spieler faced a team from Oakland.
“It was dusk and we were hoping to get through this match,” said Bennett.
They opened up an 8-0 lead and won going away, 11-1.
“We played flawless. Katie did exactly what she was supposed to do. She played great. She carried me today,” said Bennett.
Bennett noted that they were the youngest team in the tournament. “Our combined ages didn’t add up to the age of some of the women,” he said.
Bennett and Spieler made a spectacular play in the final that deflated the Oakland team. Spieler made a diving one-armed dig of a cut shot that hit the bottom of the net and went to the other side. A hustling Bennett raced under the net and knocked the ball back to Spieler, who bumped it into the deep corner for an improbable point.
“That was the definitive point in our match,” Bennett said.
The local team lost their first game in pool play, but got revenge in the first round of the playoffs, winning 11-2.
Bennett-Spieler next battled a team from Dallas and were stuck at 8-7 for about 25 minutes before pulling away to an 11-8 win.
With the sun setting over the Manhattan Pier, they romped to an 11-2 win in the semifinals.
On Saturday, Bennett and Clark endured a long day of matches and delays.
In the semifinals, they stormed back from a 6-1 deficit and beat multi-time state masters champion Dan Salyer and Mike Runcie, 11-8. Bennett scored three straight points off blocks and Clark served two aces to bring them back.
Bennett played high school volleyball at Dos Pueblos.
Another local player to win a U.S. title was former Santa Barbara High star David Fisher with partner Jack Quinn in the Men’s AA.
U.S. Open Champions
Men’s Open — Sean Rosenthal, Redondo Beach and Aaron Wachtfogel, Hermosa Beach
Women’s Open – Dianne Denocochea, San Diego and Britany Hochevar, Hermosa Beach
Co-ed Open – Adriano Araiyo, Brazil and Whitney Pavlik, Laguna Beach / Evan Engle, Dana Pointe and Christal Engle, Dana Pointe (final called due to darkness)
Men’s AA – David Fisher, Santa Barbara and Jack Quinn, Venice
Men’s A – Dillan Bennett, Santa Barbara and Nick Clark, Santa Barbara
Men’s BB – Jason Marentette, Kalamazoo, Mich. and Matthew O’Sullivan, Kalamazoo, Mich.
Men’s B – Bobby Jones, Santa Monica and Jeff Urton, Hermosa Beach
Men’s Masters – Jason Wyrick, Denver, Colo. and Paige Harrington, Denver, Colo.
Women’s AA – Jaclyne Jallos, San Diego and Kaui Salzman, San Diego
Women’s A – Helen Reale, Los Angeles and Lucy Han, Los Angeles
Women’s B – Jae Carpenter, Santa Monica and Gabi Sheik, Santa Monica.
Women’s Masters – Aimee Richardson, Phoenix, Ariz. and Julie Chan, San Diego
Co-ed A – Dillan Bennett, Santa Barbara and Katie Spieler, Santa Barbara
Co-ed B – Masui Allen, Cypress and Etta Jackson, Cypress
Dillan you have committed yourself to the excellence of Volleyball, whether playing or coaching, you so deserve to have your hardwork and perseverance pay off. Plus you do know talent when you see it, Katie and Nick, are awesome players in their own right, what great teammates. We can’t wait to see how your brilliant strategic mind plays out in your coaching career (Club and Laguna Blanc), as well as your player carreer.
Dillan Bennett is my son. He has grown up to be an extraordinary young man and I couldnt be more proud, “Proudest Mother in the World” Lori Trotter-Bennett