Harvard Westlake, the only CIF-SS Division 1 team in the field, won the Gold Division title at the Bishop Diego Cardinal Classic girls volleyball tournament at the UCSB Thunderdome on Saturday.
The Wolverines defeated South Pasadena in a one-game championship match, 25-21.
San Marcos and Dos Pueblos tied for third place. San Marcos lost to Harvard Westlake in the semifinals, 25-16, while Dos Pueblos fell to South Pasadena, 25-21.
Earlier, Dos Pueblos knocked out Capistrano Valley Christian, 25-20, and San Marcos defeated Viewpoint, 25-14.
Santa Barbara High tied for fifth place with CVC. The Dons beat Arroyo Grande in the playoffs, 25-15, and then fell to South Pasadena, 25-17.
Host Bishop Diego finished 12th in the 20-team division.
Chloe Hoffman paced the Dos Pueblos offense with 32 kills on the day, Makeila Cervantes had 29 and Lucy Speier added 26. Setter Hallie Rillie dished out 82 assists.
“We had an incredibly positive day and we could not be more proud of our team,” said DP coach Megan O’Carroll. “We were working through some bumps this week in our matches on Tuesday and Thursday, trying to figure out all the moving pieces of our lineup to find something that clicked.
“Today was the first day that really felt like things were flowing and it really showed on the court.”
The Chargers were 4-1 overall in the tournament.
Santa Barbara bounced back from a pool-play loss against Viewpoint and beat Arroyo Grande in its first playoff game. “We responded will with strong passing, block coverage and attacking” said coach Kristin Hempy.
The Dons ran up against a strong block by South Pasadena in the quarterfinals
“The tournament was effective in helping us recognize which areas of our own play we need to fine tune and improve on going into our last pre-season match this week versus a strong Sierra Canyon program on Tuesday and first league game at Oxnard on Thursday.
Outside hitter Shae Delany topped the Dons in kills, serve reception and digs. Emmy Werner led in kill percentage, Stella Borgioli in setting percentage and Tessa de Albergaria in digs.
In the nine-team Silver Division, Laguna Blanca reached the semifinals and fell to Mission Prep, 25-21, to finish 3-1.
Archer defeated Mission Prep for the division title.
“We grew up a lot today as a team,” said coach Jason Donnelly. “The girls continue to work hard as they learn to navigate their way around volleyball at this level. It’s brand new for many of them and it was great to see so much improvements throughout the day.”
Donnelly said Lola Hall was solid playing in several positions and freshman setter Ginger Finney made great strides in her setting and defense. He also praised the serve receiving of Natalie Bianchi and Jacqueline Richardson.
First-year Carpinteria coach Greg Novak used the tournament to get his new group of players a lot of game experience.
“We had some close games but couldn’t pull out a win,” he said. “We have nine players new to the game, including a sophomore setter who started setting five days ago. Though we didn’t win a match, it was good for the team to gain some playing time before the season starts.”
The tournament also included county schools Cate, Santa Ynez, St. Joseph, Cabrillo, Lompoc and Righetti.