After back-to-back road losses to open the season, the Santa Barbara High girls’ volleyball team returned to JR Richards Gymnasium and emerged victorious with a 23-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-22 victory over Valencia on Tuesday night.
With a talented and experienced roster coming off a deep playoff run in the CIF-SS playoffs last season, the Dons’ slow start to the season is somewhat surprising. However, the victory over Valencia is a step in the right direction.
“What I really appreciate about this group is there are a lot of veterans, a lot of returners, so they are comfortable with each other. They’ve got the fire. They’ve got the drive,” said Santa Barbara coach Kristin Hempy. “We definitely need to work on disrupting runs and mitigating or reducing unforced errors.”
The Dons were led by senior outside hitter Blake Saunders, who finished with a match-high 16 kills and repeatedly came through in the clutch.
After Santa Barbara took a 7-2 lead in the first set, Valencia seized control and went on to take a 1-0 set lead with a 25-23 victory.
The Dons jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the second set on a solo block by Eloise Becker, but the visiting Vikings once again clawed back and cut their deficit to 14-13 on a spike by Clara Caldaronello, forcing a Santa Barbara timeout.
Valencia tied the score at 20-20 on a kill by Taijah Ellis, but Santa Barbara regained control with three consecutive points, capped by a Becker kill. Becker took over as setter after an injury to Juliana Horton in the first set.
The Dons increased their lead to 24-21 on a kill by Jacqueline Durling and evened the match at one set apiece by taking the second set, 25-23, on a Valencia service error.
In the third set, Santa Barbara took a 12-8 lead on a solo block by Kira Elliott. She followed that up with a powerful spike that increased the Santa Barbara lead to 13-8 and forced a Valencia timeout.
The Dons went on to take a 2-1 set lead with a 25-18 victory after a kill from the back row by Saunders.
“She has a really strong arm, so we like to utilize her as much as possible,” Hempy said of Saunders. “She is focused, she is competitive and, as an outside, she gets whatever sets we can get up. Even on less-than-perfect passes, she does a really good job converting as well.”
Santa Barbara’s momentum continued to build as the match progressed. Three straight aces by Adri Kostrzewa gave the Dons a 12-3 lead in the fourth set, which they would not relinquish.
Opposite Lola Heckman had a big match for Santa Barbara with 10 kills, while Paylin Marcillac led the way defensively with 17 digs.
The Dons will travel to Newbury Park for another non-league contest on Thursday.
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