Bishop Diego football’s Samuel Boeddeker and Santa Barbara High volleyball’s Blake Saunders began their seasons on a high note and were rewarded as the first Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Athletes of the Week of the school year.
The pairing was honored at Monday’s SBART Press Luncheon at Harry’s Plaza Cafe.
Boeddeker, a junior, shined on both sides of the ball to help power the Cardinals to a 37-24 season-opening victory over Paso Robles.
Offensively, he took 20 carries for 162 yards and a trio of touchdowns. On the defensive end, he ended the night with 13 tackles, three quarterback hurries and a tackle for loss.
Meanwhile, Saunders tallied 16 kills in a four-set win over Valencia before tallying 10 kills in a loss at the hands of Newbury Park.
The senior followed that up with a 40-kill, 25-dig performance in the annual Cardinal Classic on Saturday, where the Dons went 4-1 on their way to a third-place finish out of 26 teams.
The boys honorable mentions were Patrick Sullivan (DP Football), Mason Walsh (SB Water Polo), Channing Wigo (DP Water Polo) and Liam Moes (Cate Water Polo).
The girls honorable mentions were Lauren Kenny (Laguna Volleyball), Piper Kittle (SM Flag Football) Laila Hernandez (SB Flag Football) and Elina Stump (SB Flag Football).
The Athlete of the Week award winners are selected by the local sports media. Coaches are encouraged to nominate deserving athletes. Nominations should be sent to sports@noozhawk.com by Saturday afternoon, if possible.
The award is sponsored by Maho-Prentice, LLP.
