The Dons celebrate with their fans after winning the program’s first boys volleyball team in 29 years. 
Sam Meister hammers a spike past a Huntington Beach blocker during CIF-SS Division 2 final. 
Santa Barbara middle Andrew Douglas powers the ball through a Huntington Beach blocker. 
Alex Rottman of the Dons cuts the ball away from a Huntington Beach blocker. 
Senior libero Matt Suh picks up one of his 20 digs for the Dons. 
Santa Barbara fans cheer on team in the CIF-SS Division 2 volleyball final at J.R. Richards Gym. 
Senior outside hitter Sam Meister gets high off the ground to deliver a kill. 
Santa Barbara players celebrate with coach Chad Arneson after he accepts the CIF Champion plaque. 
Chad Arneson hoists CIF Champion plaque after his Dons beat Huntington Beach in five sets. 
The Santa Barbara High boys volleyball team poses for a photo while wearing their CIF Champion T-shirts.
As Chad Arneson thrust the CIF Championship plaque above his head, he yelled out, “We did it!” His Santa Barbara High boys volleyball players then rushed over and started jumping and screaming for joy.
The top-seeded and undefeated Dons celebrated winning their first CIF-Southern Section boys volleyball title in 29 years, outlasting No. 2 seed Huntington Beach in the Division 2 final in a dramatic five-set match at J.R. Richards Gym on Saturday. The scores were 25-21, 25-18, 29-31, 21-25 and 15-9.
Senior setter Peter Tebbe made sure outside hitter and UCSB-bound Sam Meister finished the match. Meister blasted one off the block for the 14th point and then needed a couple of swings to score the championship point. On the first one, he tattooed one off the chest of Huntington Beach hitting standout Liam Phinizy. But the Oilers were able to keep the ball alive and return it. Meister cranked another heavy hit that the Oilers dug but couldn’t make a play.
The Dons' bench erupted and the players mobbed each other as they celebrated winning the championship in front of home crowd after runner-up finishes in 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2013.
“It’s so rewarding,” said Arneson, who played on the last championship team in 1992 and coached the teams that finished as runners-up. “The monkey’s kind of off my back, so to speak. We did it. This is a great team. I’m so happy for our whole group. Our coaching staff or Jon Roberts, Nan Verkaik and Tyler Hansen, they deserve a lot of credit.”
Arneson said he told Huntington Beach coach Craig Pazanti that it’s hard to win a title.
“We definitely had to grind it out and sweat and grovel. It was definitely a great performance by our boys,” Arneson said.
The longtime boys volleyball coach said he was glad to join former and current Dons coaches and current faculty members Todd Heil (former boys soccer), Mark Walsh (boys and girls water polo) and John Gannon (former girls volleyball) as CIF champion coaches.
“I have a lot of respect for those coaches, and I definitely wanted to get a title for our program. We deserve it,” Arneson said.
Meister and Alex Rottman carried the Santa Barbara attack with 28 and 27 kills, respectively, and Tebbe dished out 60 assists.
Huntington Beach got big hitting performances from 6-5 sophomore Liam Phinizy with 24 kills and 6-4 senior Caymen LaFontaine with 22.
Meister helped the Dons break open a close first game, putting away seven kills and adding a solo block.
In the second set, the serving of Matt Suh and the play of middle Andrew Douglas led the Dons. Douglas went off with a kill on an overpass and a stuff block to spark a 4-0 run that put them ahead 17-9. Suh served an ace for a 24-18 lead, and Douglas finished the set with a block.
Santa Barbara (13-0) was looking at a sweep after going up 12-9 in the third set. But Phinizy caught fire, and Huntington Beach climbed back to tie the score at 16-16.
There were eight more ties — the last one at 29-29 — before the Oilers scored the final two points. A LaFontaine kill made it 30-29, and lefty Trent Douphner scored the final point.
Huntington Beach (13-6) rode the momentum of the comeback win and pushed the Dons in the fourth set. A block by Michael Rini and Will Lawler gave the Oilers a 14-13 lead, which they never gave up.
“We started putting balls in play at the service line, we started passing better. When that was working, I thought we were pretty efficient,” said Huntington Beach coach Craig Pazanti of his team's improved play in sets three and four.
Santa Barbara hadn’t been pushed to five sets all season, but the Dons didn’t show any signs of stress playing in their home gym.
“That’s a great team over there, and they have some big hitters,” Tebbe said of Huntington Beach. “It’s tough to block them, but we just stayed composed. We also have some great hitters that I’m lucky enough and blessed to set.”
The fifth set started with Andreas Schuetz and Isaiah Gill combining on a block. Santa Barbara went on a 3-0 run on back-to-back kills by Meister and a center-line violation against the Oilers to go up 7-3. Ford Harman made a key dig on Meister’s second kill.
A pair of kills by LaFontaine pulled the Oilers to 7-5. But Meister responded after a timeout with a sideout to start another three-point run. Huntington Beach was called for a net violation, and Meister served a high floater for an ace to make 10-5.
Rottman hit high off the block and the Dons received a couple of points on Huntington Beach serving errors to go up 13-8. The Oilers got one point back before Meister wrapped up the title with two thundering hits.
“Those last couple of swings I was swinging as hard as I could. I wasn’t even looking at the block anymore. I was just roughing it,” Meister said.
There was no question that Tebbe was going to Meister for the win.
“Oh my God, he’s our workhorse,” Tebbe said. “We need to feed him in the clutch moments. Sam is one of the best players I’ve ever played with. Amazing player, love him to death.
“We’re all such a family. Our whole team, we’re just so connected and we just have such good chemistry, and we came out with the win.”
The powerful outside hitter was ecstatic to win the title in the gym he’s been playing in for the past four years.
“It means a lot to me. I’m so happy I ended it like this,” he said.
For four-year standout libero Matt Suh, the title is another jewel in a crown that includes graduating from SBHS and being accepted into Princeton.
“It’s been a long road coming,” he said. “We were this close to getting it in my sophomore year. Last year, we had our season cut short. This season we’ve been thrown so many obstacles that none of us could have imagined. And the way that we persevered and the way we’ve all come together as a family, I’m speechless.
“It’s the best feeling in the world.”
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
Santa Barbara's championship point against Huntington Beach in the CIF-SS Division 2 final. pic.twitter.com/v83x8YkhHJ — NoozhawkSports (@NoozhawkSports) June 6, 2021