The Santa Barbara High girls’ volleyball team embraced the underdog role and delivered an inspired effort against rival San Marcos, but ultimately fell short.
The Royals dominated the decisive fifth set and captured a 25-27, 25-14, 20-25, 25-17, 15-6 victory on Wednesday night at JR Richards Gymnasium.
“You come to these rivalry games and you never know what to expect. We came in a little bit flat, and we had to change some things to fight,” said San Marcos coach Erica Downing. “They played really well. I had no idea that they would be super scrappy like that.”
The Dons proved they were a force to be reckoned with in the opening set. A kill by Lola Heckman gave Santa Barbara a 26-25 lead, and Blake Saunders followed with an ace to lift the Dons to a 1-0 set lead.
In set two, San Marcos jumped out to an 8-4 lead, but an impressive serving run by Lila Westmacott helped the Royals surge. A spike off the block by Charlotte Hastings tied the score at 10-10, and San Marcos never looked back.
The Royals closed set two on a 21-6 run to even the match at one set apiece.
In set three, the two teams traded points in a tightly contested battle. An ace by Grace Costner gave Santa Barbara a 14-10 lead and forced a San Marcos timeout. A kill by Kelsey Rowe cut the Royals’ deficit to 17-15, but that was as close as San Marcos would get. The Dons pulled away and clinched the set on another Costner ace.
“Any time there is a big rivalry match, there’s going to be a lot of energy. That’s a given,” said Santa Barbara coach Kristin Hempy. “I’ve just been proud of the way they’ve raised their volleyball level — the technical level as well. The energy is there, of course, but we played the best we’ve played so far this season, and it’s really encouraging.”
San Marcos had its back against the wall in set four but pulled away at the midway point behind strong play at the net from Jordan Schmoller and Gracie Stone.
Stone clinched the fourth set for San Marcos and evened the match at two sets apiece with a powerful cross-court spike.
After falling behind 2-0 in set five, the San Marcos height advantage at the net began to pay dividends. Back-to-back blocks by Samantha Fallon put the Royals ahead 5-2, and a spike off the block by Hastings extended the lead to 7-3.
The Royals clinched the fifth set and the match on a kill by Reese Paskin.
San Marcos was led offensively by Hastings, who finished with a match-high 19 kills. Gracie Stone added 14 kills and six blocks, Cora Loomer tallied 11 kills, and Fallon chipped in nine kills and three blocks.
For Santa Barbara, sophomore Kira Elliott notched a team-high 13 kills, Heckman finished with 12 kills and two blocks, and Blake Saunders filled the stat sheet with eight kills, three aces, seven digs, and one block.
With the victory, San Marcos improved to 12-2 overall and 5-0 in Channel League play.
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