Dos Pueblos lost a tight match for first place in its pool against eventual finalist Notre Dame and fell to St. Francis in the first round of the playoffs at the 40th annual DP Invitational boys volleyball tournament on Saturday at UCSB.
Laguna Beach, which lost to San Marcos in last year’s final, bounced back from a first-set loss and defeated Notre Dame, 14-25, 25-17, 15-13, for its first DPI title in program history.
The Chargers dropped a pair of 27-25 sets against Notre Dame in the final pool-play match.
“We played without fear and what ensued was some fantastic and energetic volleyball,” DP coach Ehren Hug said. “We lost both sets but left it all on the court.”
The scores against St. Francis were 25-19, 25-15.
“St. Francis is a very polished and well-coached program with a cast of excellent volleyball players,” Hug said. “I told my boys they have nothing to be upset about because we got to close the day with aggressive play against really elite programs, both of which made it to the semi final and finals.”
In the semifinals, Laguna Beach knocked off Royal, 25-18, 25-16, and Notre Dame outlasted St. Francis, 26-24, 12-25, 15-11.
