Santa Barbara Girls’ Volleyball Pulls Off Upset of First-Place San Marcos in Five-Set Thriller

A back-and-forth rivalry match concluded in a stunning upset as the Santa Barbara High girls’ volleyball team snatched away momentum late and captured an 18-25, 25-22, 13-25, 27-25, 15-9 victory on Thursday night at JR Richards gymnasium.

The young Dons played with surreal poise in crucial moments to give the Royals their first Channel League loss of the season and build on a string of impressive victories the last few weeks.

“We talked about it going in — we’ve got nothing to lose; they are undefeated; we are in fourth place, so just go for it,” said Santa Barbara High coach Kristin Hempy. “I think the girls just really proved they have the heart. When we beat Bishop Diego, when we beat DP, they are gutting it out.”

Freshman Kira Elliott was the best player on the court, especially in set five. She finished with a match-high 15 kills and has been a driving force in the Dons’ turnaround this season.

“She just has great energy, great attitude, she works hard, she listens, and to have that as just a freshman, she has a great future ahead of her,” Hempy said. “She is going to be a real asset to the program, and she was our go-to player in set five because she was being aggressive.”

San Marcos cruised in set one. A monstrous solo block by senior Elena Thomas clinched a 1-0 set lead for the Royals and put the onus on Santa Barbara to respond.

The two teams traded haymakers in set two. The Dons took a 14-10 lead on an ace serve by Gwen Chenoweth that forced a San Marcos timeout, but the Royals put together a 9-5 run after that and tied the score at 19-19 on a kill by Charlotte Hastings.

Santa Barbara turned to Elliott to avoid an 0-2 set lead, and she delivered with the Dons’ final two kills of the set, both of which came on spikes off the San Marcos block and out of bounds.

San Marcos dominated set three as the reigning Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Athlete of the Week Josie Gamberdella put together a 12-point serving run that turned an 11-9 Santa Barbara lead into a 21-11 San Marcos lead. 

“Josie is a service weapon for us. I love when she is back there. It gives me a lot of confidence, because she hits whatever targets that I call, and she is confident in doing it,” said San Marcos coach Dwayne Hauschild. “It’s super fun when you have those people that can do it.”

The Royals clinched the third set on an ace serve by Avery Leck.

In set four, Santa Barbara took a 22-16 lead on an Elliott kill that resulted in a San Marcos timeout. Whatever the San Marcos coaches said in the huddle worked as the Royals put together a 7-1 run to tie the score at 23-23. 

Elena Thomas hit off the block and out of bounds to give San Marcos match point, but Gamberdella’s ensuing serve went just wide to tie the score at 24-24. 

After a Thomas kill gave San Marcos a 25-24 lead, Santa Barbara closed out the set with three straight points capped off by a kill from the Dons’ middle blocker Lola Heckman.

Santa Barbara controlled set five with gutsy serving that kept the San Marcos attack out of rhythm. An ace serve by Alexia Horton put the Dons ahead 4-3. Keenan Engebretson followed with another ace that increased the Santa Barbara lead to 7-4. 

The Dons clinched set five and the match on a kill by Madison Priess that sent the gym into a frenzy.

Sophomore Blake Saunders had an impressive stat line for Santa Barbara with six kills, five digs, three aces, and two blocks. Engebretson chipped in 12 kills.

Thomas led San Marcos with 14 kills, and Hastings added 12 kills.

With the victory, Santa Barbara improved to 14-13 overall and 7-4 in Channel league play. San Marcos dropped to 23-5 overall and 9-1 in Channel League.