Despite a pair of losses, Santa Barbara High had a strong showing on the first day of the Tournament of Champions girls volleyball tournament. The Dons fell to Great Oak 3-0 in the first round followed by a 3-1 loss to Cathedral Catholic.
But head coach John Gannon was enthused by the play against top-tier competition. Great Oak went on to reach the tournament semifinals while Cathedral Catholic is the No. 2 team in San Diego.
“It shows that we’re doing the right things, just trying to figure out how to turn close losses into wins,” Gannon said.
Game scores against Great Oak were 25-23, 25-14, 25-18 and 17-25, 25-14, 26-24, 25-20 in the second match versus Cathedral Catholic. Jessyca Beksa had a team-high 12 kills in the first match while Erika Foreman’s 15 kills led the Dons in the second match.
“Playing good competition, we don’t mind that at all,” Gannon said.
