The titans of boys volleyball are back to defend their title at the Karch Kiraly Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions this weekend.
A reloaded Mira Costa returns with an unbeaten record (16-0) and No. 1 ranking in the nation. The Mustangs’ conquests this season include winning the Best of the West Classic, beating previously CIF Division 1 top-ranked Loyola, knocking off Newport Harbor in three sets and sweeping No. 5 nationally ranked Punahou of Hawaii in Honolulu.
They’ve done all of that after losing four starting seniors.
This year’s team is led by outside hitter D.J. White and setter Kameron Bain.
A total of six teams listed in the top 20 of the ESPN-RISE national rankings are entered in the TOC. The No. 2 seed is second-ranked Santa Margarita, which has UCSB commit Spencer Buckley, a 6-6 outside hitter.
Northern California power Bellarmine Prep of San Jose is ranked No. 4 in the country. The Belles won the Dos Pueblos Invitational last month and are led by defensive specialists Jason Basuil.
The other top 20 teams are No. 9 Newport Harbor, Corona del Mar at 11th and Santa Barbara at 19th.
Newport Harbor, the tournament’s fourth seed, is led by Loyola of Chicago commit Cody Caldwell.
Fifth-seeded Corona del Mar has a player with a recognizable vowel-challenged last name in volleyball. Outside hitter Joe Ctvrtlik is the son of Olympic gold medalist (Seoul, 1988) and three-time U.S. Olympian Bob Ctvrtlik, who played alongside Karch Kiraly on the ’88 national team.
Santa Barbara is seeded sixth in the 16-team tournament. Rounding out the field are Thousand Oaks, Valencia, Dos Pueblos, Ventura, Long Beach Wilson, Royal, San Marcos and Buena.
Tournament action begins at 11 a.m. Friday at Santa Barbara’s J.R. Richards Gym with Mira Cosa playing Buena and Dos Pueblos taking on Valencia.
Santa Barbara opens against Clovis West at 2:30 p.m. and San Marcos faces Santa Margarita at 4:15.
Winner’s bracket matches are at 6 and 7:45 p.m. at Santa Barbara High.
The semifinals are Saturday at 10:45 a.m., and the championship is slated for 6:15 p.m.
Tournament bracket: http://www.sbhsdons.org/ourpages/auto/2011/4/12/41891480/2011%20Boys%20TOC.pdf
