It was the kind of league opener you’d expect from the two favorites to battle for the Channel League title in girls volleyball.
Santa Barbara High got clutch play from several players and overcame a 2-1 deficit in sets to outlast a potent Ventura squad in a roller-coaster five-set marathon inside a hot and sweaty J.R. Richards Gym on Thursday night.
The Dons’ victory snapped a three-year drought against the Cougars and ended a winless record in five-set matches this season.
“This is the fourth match we’ve gone to five and our first win,” said an excited Santa Barbara coach Kristen Hempy. “We talked about it. We talked about the mental game. It’s just very rewarding for us to see the pieces come together; we can go to five, we can win in five, we can persevere through the long, long rallies, a dripping floor and wipeouts — everything you can throw at this crazy match.”
Senior Blake Saunders and senior setter/hitter Jules Horton each recorded double-doubles to spark the comeback win. Saunders notched 14 kills and 13 digs and served four aces, while Horton dished out 39 assists and picked up 14 digs. She also delivered five kills and four aces in a strong all-around performance.
Horton helped get the Dons off to a 5-0 start in the fifth set, serving for four of the points and making a huge dig that was converted into a kill by Kira Elliott.
Horton and senior libero Paylin Marcillac were involved in a scary moment at 5-1, slipping on the sweaty floor while chasing a shanked dig and ending up in awkward positions. They were both OK. A couple of plays later Ventura outside hitter Siena Hayes slipped on a hitting approach. Santa Barbara scored on the rally as senior Stella Peus got a touch on her attack for a side out and a 7-3 advantage..
“The seniors had never beaten Ventura. We were determined to win,” said junior outside hitter Kira Elliott, who put away 11 kills.
Ventura cut the deficit to 7-5 but gave a point back on a center-line violation.
That put Marcillac on the service line and she came up big, going on a 4-0 run for an 11-6 lead. Santa Barbara got clutch kill from Jacqueline Durling in the middle during the run.
Ventura sided out and was in position to cut the Dons’ lead to 11-8 after blocking an attack. But Marcillac covered the hitter and stunned the Cougars by popping the ball up. Horton then delivered the kill to make it 12-7.
“Jules can hammer the ball, she’s so athletic,” said Hempy. “She’s a water polo stud as well, so she’s got that strength. When she gets her timing down, it’s powerful.”
After Horton’s kill, Saunders served an ace and Durling followed with a big block in the middle.
“She’s improved so much since last year,” said Hempy of Durling, who had five kills, two aces and two blocks. “I’m proud to see her at the level she’s at; she’s really smart… really high volleyball IQ. And, I’ve said this before, it doesn’t show up on the stats but the amount of smart decisions she’s making in the mid-rallies — just the little touches — it helps extend things and helps keep the ball alive for us. It’s really high-level play out of the middle.”
Santa Barbara went on a 6-0 run to end the match and improve to 9-6 on the season. Ventura fell to 5-6.
“We knew going into league and starting off with Ventura, that it’s going to be our biggest battle in league right now,” said Hempy. “This is probably our strongest returning lineup. They’ve had our number for many years, so we really, really worked hard to sharpen all the stuff we needed to take care of and I thought we did a really good job responding. We started a little slow in the first set. It took awhile to get the momentum going but when we did, we were firing on all cylinders and everything was jiving. It was really fun.(The players) were having so much fun.”
