Two former Dos Pueblos volleyball stars are members of the Cal Lutheran men’s volleyball team that won the school’s first NCAA Division 3 National Championship on Sunday in Dubuque, Iowa.
The Kingsmen captured the title in their tournament debut. They swept Vassar in the final, 25-22, 25-23, 25-23.
DP alums Grant Hughes and Matthew Wilcox are freshman on the squad. Wilcox, a middle, had a solo block in the national title match and recorded a season-best six kills and four block assists in a five-set quarterfinal win over Iowa’s Loras.
“Winning a championship as a freshman is eye-opening, as I experienced what it takes to become champions,” said Wilcox in an email to Noozhawk. “I saw during timeouts how my teammates would communicate with each other to adjust our strategy. Everyone was being attentive and thinking how they could win.”
Hughes said the experience felt surreal.
“I still haven’t decompressed and it hasn’t hit me yet that I won a NCAA championship,” he explained in an email to Noozhawk on Monday. “It’s like I’m new to playing the game of volleyball and, Bam!, got a trophy already when most teams get it with all upperclassmen.”
Hughes played behind senior All-American setter Taylor Marks.
“My role throughout high school to college changed drastically,” Hughes said. “Being the second-string setter behind the No. 1 setter in Division 3 who could be playing D1 right now, helped me learn so much more about the game of volleyball than if I was playing.
“I want to be a coach when I grow up, just like my dad (Chris Hughes). I was pushed in a way of beating the starters and getting them ready for games. We did a pretty good job of that and the starters dominated throughout the year, leading us to the championship. Matthew Wilcox started off with me on the second string and just kept dominating to the point where he got moved in the starting lineup, and I’m so proud of him since he earned it.
“We were 17 strong as a team, every single guy contributed so much on the team and it was a blessing to be apart of this journey to bring home the trophy!”
To reach the final, Cal Lutheran defeated Illinois-Dominican (3-1), Iowa-Loras (3-2) and defending champion New Jersey-Stevens Institute of Technology (3-2).
Local Players in NCAA Beach Volleyball
The 17-team NCAA Division 1 Tournament in Gulf Shores, Ala., will include several former volleyball standouts from the three high schools in the Santa Barbara Unified School District.
Third-seeded Stanford has three locals on its roster: senior Ellie Gamberdella (San Marcos), junior Taylor Wilson (San Marcos) and freshman Chloe Hoffman (Dos Pueblos).
Santa Barbara High alum Emma Zuffelato is a sophomore for No. 5 seed Cal Poly, which is coached by San Marcos alum and 2016 Olympics beach volleyball gold medalist Todd Rogers.
Dos Pueblos alum Portia Sherman is a sophomore and a starting-lineup regular for No. 7 seed Cal.
Another local connection in the tournament is Florida State coach Brooke Niles. The former UCSB indoor volleyball star has guided the Seminoles to eight NCAA appearances, with three national runner-up finishes, one third-place and one fifth-place finish.
The NCAA Tournament runs Friday through Sunday. Pac-12 champion USC (33-5) is the No. 1 seed and UCLA (32-6) is No. 2.
The rest of the field includes Loyola Marymount (27-13), Hawaii (24-11), Cal Poly (29-6), Arizona State, (21-9) Florida State (29-7), Washington (20-15), Georgia State (26-12), Stanford (31-5), LSU (25-11), TCU (29-7), Long Beach State (28-9), Cal (19-13), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (28-9), North Florida (24-11) and Tennessee-Chattanooga (19-9).
Action begins on Friday morning with North Florida and Chattanooga facing off in an opening-round match, with the winner taking on USC later in the first round.
The other first-round matchups: LMU vs. Hawaii, Cal Poly vs. Arizona State, Florida State vs. Washington, Georgia State vs. Stanford, LSU vs. TCU, Long Beach State vs. Cal, Texas A&M vs. UCLA.