Santa Barbara and Dos Pueblos showed they can play with some of the best teams in the state at the annual Tournament of Champions at Santa Barbara’s J.R. Richards Gym on Friday.
The host Dons and Chargers both won two matches on Friday to set up an all-local semifinal at 10:45 a.m. on Saturday at J.R. Richards Gym.
Second-seeded Corona del Mar and Marymount will play in the other semifinal, and the championship match is set for 6:15 at Santa Barbara.
Santa Barbara defeated Mountain View Saint Francis in three and outlasted Long Beach Wilson in five sets on Friday.
Dos Pueblos opened with a sweep over Santa Margarita and then upset top-seeded San Diego Cathedral Catholic in four.
The Chargers beat Santa Margarita 25-15, 26-24, and 25-21.
“We came out really strong from the first point and never looked back,” said coach Todd Garrett.
Amanda Moriarty and Taylor Racich each had 13 kills, Lina Kleinschmidt added 6 kills and Sarah McKinny recorded four blocks
The Chargers then took down Cathedral Catholic, 25-11, 21-25, 25-21, 25-14.
Taylor Racich was nearly unstoppable, ripping 18 kills with 2 blocks. Moriarty had 14 kills, McKinny and Tristan Racich each had 2 blocks, and Katie Spieler scooped 18 digs.
“We blocked really well all day, Tristan and Maddy set two great matches and did a great job running the offense,” said Garrett.
“The key to our game is the way we attacked. The girls stuck with the game plan and we put some really good teams on their heels with their aggressiveness,” said Garrett.
Santa Barbara whipped Saint Francis 25-22, 25-19, 25-15.
In the quarterfinals, the Dons pulled out a thriller against Long Beach Wilson, 29-27, 25-23, 26-24, 25-15, 15-8.
“Both the middles (Remi Pulice and Holland Crenshaw) had nine kills in our second game,” said coach John Gannon. “We got really good play out of the middles.”
Dani Rottman had 30 kills on the day.
