San Marcos High sophomore outside hitter Matteo Burdick delivered a short serve that Santa Barbara could not return, sending the Royals into a frenzied celebration.
With the 15-25, 25-19, 25-23, 26-24 victory San Marcos clinched the Channel League title outright and avoided a three-way tie with rivals Dos Pueblos and Santa Barbara.
“I want to give all the credit to Ayden Welch, our senior captain, who foresaw this, who anticipated this and he played like it,” said San Marcos first-year coach Dave Goss. “His expectation was that we would be league champs and we’re going to go on to do even more in CIF.”
The Royals had zero returning starters coming into the season, but played a tough non-league schedule, built confidence as the season progressed and flourished in key moments in an improbable run to the top of the Channel League.
“They were calm. They were steady throughout the game even when we were down twice in games three and four, they came back, they didn’t lose their cool,” Goss said. “They stabilized their passing and our serving got better in games two through four.”
None of that seemed possible in set one as Santa Babara rode a wave of momentum. The Royals could not pass and struggled serving as the Dons captured the lone lopsided set.
Santa Barbara was led by sophomore outside hitter Hayes Costner, who finished with a match-high 20 kills on an efficient .484 hitting percentage. Luke Zuffelato added 15 kills as the Dons possessed the firepower to control the action for long stretches, but failed to close out sets.
“We can’t finish for some reason. I’ve got to look at myself in the mirror as a coach to figure out what is the best situation for us to learn how to put teams away when we are supposed to,” said Santa Barbara High coach Chad Arneson. “This is a tough loss for sure but the season is not over.”
In set two, San Marcos pulled away late with a 5-2 run and evened the match at one set apiece on a kill by Burdick. He finished with a team-high 19 kills.
Santa Barbara was poised to take control of the match in set three after taking a 19-14 lead on a San Marcos hitting error. But San Marcos closed the set on an 11-4 run capped off by a kill from Calvin Frisell.
The Dons took the lead again in set four, 18-14, after a San Marcos double contact violation, but San Marcos came storming back.
A block by Koji Hefner and Tyler Walker cut the San Marcos deficit to 20-18 forcing a Santa Barbara timeout. The Royals took a 25-24 lead on a spike down the line by Burdick. He then stepped back to the service line and finished off the victory.
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