The Santa Barbara High boys volleyball team improved to 7-0 against Channel League opponents after pulling out a hard-fought victory against San Marcos in five sets.
The game scores for Tuesday’s match were 25-11, 25-17, 24-26, 20-25 and 15-7.
After taking the first two sets, Santa Barbara subbed in some of its less experienced players, and San Marcos took advantage of the opportunity.
Down 23-21 in the third set, the Royals rallied to win and took the momentum straight into the next game.
“I couldn’t be prouder of our guys tonight,” San Marcos coach Roger Kuntz said. “We played at a very high, competitive level.”
With their perfect league record in danger, the Dons brought back in their starters and salvaged the match.
Our boys need to learn how to finish and that comes with experience,” Santa Barbara coach Chad Arneson said.
For the Dons, Holden Ploch led the team with 14 kills while Ben Reisman added 12 more. Quinlan Dougherty also had good offensive night and recorded nine kills.
Gavin Trudeau continued to run the Dons’ offense and finished the match with a remarkable 66 assists.
“He pretty much ran the show,” Arneson said.
For the Royals, sophomore Baker Johnson did a little bit of everything. He finished with 12 kills on 27 attempts, had nine digs and received 17 serves.
“He was an all-court player for us tonight,” Kuntz said.
Kyle Estabrooks recorded 14 digs and Christian Widmer had a solid passing night at setter.
San Marcos (10-11 overall, 1-6 CL) will finish its league season against Buena at home on Thursday in a must-win match if the Royals hope to get an at-large bid into the playoffs.
Santa Barbara (16-5) will put its perfect league record on the line in a showdown with 5-1 Dos Pueblos on Thursday at home.
