The Dos Pueblos High boys volleyball team managed to pull off a huge upset on Senior Night, outlasting San Marcos in five sets and knocking the Royals out of first place in the Channel League.
The Chargers posted a key third-set victory en route to a thrilling 25-21, 22-25, 29-27, 21-25, 15-12 triumph over their crosstown rivals on Tuesday night at Sovine Gym
The result drops San Marcos behind Santa Barbara in the league standings. The Dons clinched the title with a sweep over Rio Mesa to finish 13-1 in league. San Marcos is 10-2 and has two matches left while Dos Pueblos finishes league play at 11-3.
“That was something for the memory bank, the team was just playing with such great intensity, and they were having a great time out there,” said Dos Pueblos coach Ehren Hug of the win. “What a night, to win against one of our crosstown rivals, which has not happened in many seasons was huge.”
The match went back and forth across all five sets.
“I thought we were outmatched in the middle tonight,” said San Marcos coach Roger Kuntz. “Hats off to DP, I thought they played very inspired volleyball with very few mistakes.”
Senior Matthew Wilcox led the Chargers in the middle, racking up 15 kills with just 2 errors across the five sets and had three blocks. Wilcox dominated on the service end, too, picking up four aces with no service errors.
Micah Goss had 12 kills and two blocks, Nick Schultz-Clifford put awa 11 kills and a team-high five blocks and Ewan Richards provided 10 kills and two blocks.
The Chargers set the tone in the first set.
“Winning the first set was huge. We have struggled at times this season in the opening set, so we needed to come out with the energy,” said Hug. “I knew we were playing with a different set of confidence tonight, the first set really set the path of the match.”
The crowd roared on the Chargers as they battled their way through the first two sets of the match tied at one apiece.
“It makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up when they deliver and the crowd starts cheering for them,” said Hug. “The crowd cheering on the players and watching two really good teams duking it out to the end is great.”
The third set proved pivotal in the match. Junior Micah Goss provided powerful serves to keep his team in the match. From down 18-19 to up 23-19, Goss provided the spark on the service line to put his team in the position to win the set.
The Royals stuck around by taking the fourth set. They were led by Mason Rice and Jack Wilson who each contributed 19 kills in the match.
The Chargers and Royals duked it out in the fifth set.
“You don’t hope it goes five all the time, but you know as a coach (the match) ends on a dramatic stage with a victory,” stated Hug.
With the score knotted at 8, the Chargers once again rallied behind their service game, going on a 4-0 run to make it 12-8.
Sophomore Kawin Ramko provided the spark off their bench, gaining 5 kills in the match and providing solid play throughout the fifth set.
Luke Walker of the Royals managed to keep his team close with 13 digs and 10 kills for an all-around well-executed game.
“We’ve got to make sure that we close out to Pacifica and Rio Mesa on Thursday so that we can maintain second place right now,” said Kuntz.
Hug hopes to keep the momentum going into the CIF playoffs, which begin next week.
“We just want to keep harping on all the good things we did and the things that we’re still trying to shore up,” he said. “There’s plenty of things and plenty of teams like this will see in the playoffs.”
