San Marcos boys volleyball captured its third straight Dos Pueblos Invitational title on Saturday at the Thunderdome.
The Royals came out on top of the 28-team field in the 48th installation of the long-standing tournament.
San Marcos cruised through its competition throughout the day, winning all of its matches without dropping a single set.
In the championship matchup, the Royals captured a strong sweep of Long Beach Poly.
Matteo Burdick led the charge for San Marcos and was awarded the Tournament’s Most Valuable Player award. The Royals’ Ayden Welch and Koji Hefner also garnered All-Tournament honors.
Meanwhile, Keanu Nguyen and Owen Miller helped facilitate the San Marcos offense throughout the day en route to the championship.
“The two performances I am extremely grateful for, besides the performance of our Tournament MVP and All-Tournament winners, are what we saw from Keanu Nguyen and Owen Willer. Without the passing of these two, we do not win this tournament,” Royals head coach David Goss said.
“Keanu Nguyen is the best Libero in Central California boys volleyball. He does everything for this team, defense, serving and passing and the team would not have this success without him. I could not be more proud of him and this team’s performance today.”
San Marcos will jump back into Channel League action by hosting Santa Barbara High in the Thunderhut on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Dos Pueblos
The Chargers turned in a strong performance, winning the Silver Bracket of the tournament playoffs on Saturday.
Dos Pueblos began the day by going 1-2 in pool play, taking down Hart in two sets and losing two hard-fought matchups with Portola and El Camino Real.
“We faced some solid competition in our pool today and I was proud of our grit,” Chargers head coach Ehren Hug said. “Sometimes it’s easy to give up when the ball isn’t finding the court, but we did a great job of coming together as a team and fighting through it.
“Today was good for us as we got better and figured some things out as a team.”
In the playoffs, Dos Pueblos rattled off three straight wins over Oaks Christian, Harvard Westlake and Saugus to pick up the Silver Bracket championship.
Noah Grant led the Charger offense with 49 kills to go along with 21 digs on the day. Meanwhile, Wyatt Silver collected 113 assists, 14 kills, 23 digs, nine blocks and six aces.
Evan Daugherty (23 kills, 22 digs) and Kawin Ramko (30 kills, 10 digs) each turned in strong all-around performances throughout the day.
Dos Pueblos (8-3, 2-1 Channel League) will be on the road against Buena on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
“The DPI is one of the longest running high school indoor tournaments in the world and it’s such a special event for this little town that has such big roots in the volleyball world,” Hug said. “Chris Jones and the Dos Pueblos volleyball family did a phenomenal job keeping the tradition alive on Saturday.”
Bishop Diego
The shorthanded Cardinals went 0-3 at the Dos Pueblos Invitational against quality non-league opponents. They had just seven players suited up.
Bishop Diego fell in two sets to St. Francis (25-14, 25-19), Camarillo (25-15, 25-22) and Santa Barbara High (25-15, 25-21).
“To roll into the DPI with seven guys, I can’t speak enough about their hard work and effort today,” Bishop Diego head coach Dillan Bennett said. “Without any subs, everyone had to buy into their role and work together to give us a chance to win.
“I’m very proud of their effort today, and I have no doubt this work today will help us get better in the remainder of our season.”
John Michael Flint, normally the team’s leading outside hitter, stepped into the setter role for the Cardinals and ended the day with 47 assists, nine kills and three aces.
“John Michael continues to set an example of what a leader is on our team,” Bennett said. “Players of his caliber could easily turn down the opportunity to play the position a team needs and instead play the position that best suits themself.
“He is a selfless leader who stepped into a tough job against strong competition. We’re grateful he was willing to do that today.”
Meanwhile, Damien Krautmann collected 17 kills and 10 digs and Tyler Roberts hammered down 12 kills.
“If not for Tyler’s aggressive hitting mindset today against a tough front line, we would have come up far shorter than we did today,” Bennett said. “He was a nice spark and gave us opportunities to score points.”
Bishop Diego (11-6, 3-0 Tri-Valley League) will take on Laguna Blanca in Hope Ranch on Tuesday at 5 p.m.