Santa Barbara was pushed to five games by a scrappy Buena team and prevailed 25-16, 20-25, 25-15, 17-25, 17-15 in a Channel League match on Tuesday night,
“They beat DP and they took us to five, they’re pretty good,” Santa Barbara coach John Gannon said of the Bulldogs. “They dug the ball really well and they were super scrappy.”
But Buena didn’t have an answer for Dani Rottman. The senior kept the Dons in the match with 26 kills and 24 digs.
“Dani was a stud with 24 digs,” said Gannon.
Holland Crenshaw added 11 kills and setter Kira Schleich had 58 assists and served four aces for the Dons, who improved to 4-1 in the league and 12-8 overall.
“I’m really proud of the girls,” Gannon said. “They fought and never got down. It was great to see them play like that.”
Santa Barbara will host Dos Pueblos on Thursday for a chance to earn a share of the league title.
“If they can’t get motivated for this, I don’t know what they can get motivate for,” said Gannon.
