In his first crosstown match as the Dos Pueblos boys volleyball coach, Ehren Hug came away victorious against defending Channel League champion Santa Barbara.
His Chargers played steady, played with energy and came up with the big points to sweep the Dons, 29-27, 25-23, 26-24, in the league opener for both teams Thursday at Sovine Gym.
Nate Holmes had 12 kills and 11 digs, Matt Sessler put away 10 kills and Niko Plesons picked up 17 digs and served three aces for the Chargers (4-1). DP also was tough at the net with Eli Shulman and Kurtis Randmaa each posting four blocks, and Shulman recording three solo stuffs.
Tristan Fauntleroy of Santa Barbara led all hitters with 17 kills and Jasper Rhodes added 13 kills.
Dos Pueblos, however, produced the timely kills and plays at the net to turn back the Dons (2-2).
“I’m speechless, really,” said Hug, a DP alum, who replaced longtime coach Chris Hughes. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would come out with that much energy and that much heart. I’m proud of my boys and my coaching staff, everybody. I have an amazing coaching staff behind me … I do nothing alone.
“We have just been hitting it hard in the gym lately and it’s paying off. (The players are) having fun and they’re having good chemistry together and they like each other. It’s just fun to coach them and watch them play.”
In a see-saw first set, the Dons were at set point but DP sophomore Eli Wopat came up with a huge side-out kill the even the score at 25-25. A stuff block by Randmaa put the Chargers at set point, and it looked as if they would win it when the Dons made a bad pass on the next serve. Luckily for Santa Barbara, the pass trickled over the net and dropped on DP’s side to tie the score at 26-all.
The score was tied again at 27 before DP made the plays to take the set. A Sessler kill made 28-27 and a stuff block by Shulman finished it.
“We had a short memory,” Hug said about his team’s ability to come through in the tight sets. “We were trying to keep focus on the play at hand and that was it.”
Santa Barbara took control of the second set, building a lead of 13-6. But Dos Pueblos kept its poise and fought back with big plays at the net. The Chargers went on a four-point run, getting a kill from Sessler, a solo block from Shulman, and a combination block from Wopat and Shulman.
“They want that roof every time, which we love,” Hug said of his blockers. “They’re getting hungry for blocks and they’re foaming at the mouth. That’s what we really love. We want people who want to score a point with that block. We’re going after the defense, definitely.”
Wopat caught the Dons defense napping when hit softly set the ball over the blockers for a point to tie the score at 15-15. Plesons served an ace and an overpass on his next result resulted in a Wopat kill, giving DP a 17-15 lead.
“He’s bring that serve harder than in the previous three years,” Hug said of Plesons’ potent jump serve.
There was little bit of controversy in the match. Santa Barbara coach Chad Arneson argued with the floor official over the score after the official mistakenly took a point away from the Dons for a uniform violation and gave a point to DP.
After a long delay, Dos Pueblos made the plays down the stretch, while Santa Barbara committed some critical serving errors. The Chargers won the set on a solo block by Wopat on a Fauntleroy kill attempt from the back row.
“They jump on us and we didn’t come prepared, I guess,” Arneson said. “You go to give DP a lot of credit; they got a good schedule, they got some new blood and a new coach with different kind of energy. I think they were pretty calm and collective out there. I think we might of lost our cool here and there.”
Santa Barbara led 24-22 in the third set, but the Dons couldn’t finish it off. Holmes dug a ball and finished with a kill to start DP’s comeback. The Chargers then capitalized on Santa Barbara errors to score the final three points. Logan Kovarick made a nice dig to keep the ball alive on the last rally of the match.
