One of the special things about Santa Barbara High’s Karch Kiraly Tournament of Champions is the 16 boys volleyball teams competing get to play best-of-five matches.
San Marcos battled in three of them over the weekend and came out on top in each en route to winning the championship in a marathon match against Burbank-Burroughs on Saturday at J.R. Richards Gym.
Led by the 25 kills of tournament MVP Matteo Burdick, the Royals outlasted Burroughs 25-23, 23-25, 24-26, 25-19 and 21-19 in the 15-point fifth set.
It’s the Royals’ first TOC title in program history. Burroughs won the tournament in 2022.
“(Burroughs is) a great team. We played really good, we played really good this whole tournament,” said Burdick, a powerful junior outside hitter who put away nine kills in the deciding fifth set. “We played really together. We played against good teams and we kept after it the whole tournament and I think that’s why we won.”
The Royals were on the brink of losing in the semifinals and final. They lost the first two sets against Camarillo and were down in the third but pulled out a 26-24 decision and won the match in reverse sweep. In the final, they rallied from a 2-1 deficit in sets and overcame a Burroughs match point in the fifth.
After Burroughs went up 17-16 on a kill by Marco Santiago-Dorn, Kenji Hefner answered with a kill in the middle and then Burdick scored on a two-handed stuff of an overpass for an 18-17 lead.
The teams traded points before Burdick sided out to give San Marcos the lead for good, 20-19. On the ensuing serve, Tyler Walker hit a float-ace for the match-winning point, ending a long, grueling weekend of volleyball.
Burroughs, which won the tournament in 2022, was led by 6-foot-7 junior outside hitter and Stanford commit Noah Duffield with 21 kills. He really turned it on after the first set and had the Bears on the verge of winning the match in four.
San Marcos fought them off with outstanding defense and the terrific setting of Walker. He did a superb job spreading the ball around. Also, libero Keanu Nguyen was played a stellar match with his digging and passing. On the final point of the fourth set, he made a pancake dig that the Royals converted into a kill by Kalae Anderson.
San Marcos coach Dave Goss was ecstatic over the win against a potent and energetic Burroughs squad.
“Burroughs is such a well-coached team,” he said. “Their bench is always so enthusiastic; when they even make a bad play, they’re supporting each other. It’s really a model for a lot of programs on how to be a connected team and always be an encouragement to your teammates no matter the circumstances.”
It was a crazy sight to see the Burroughs players jumping, raising their arms and smiling after committing an error. But they’d bounce back and get a side out.
“It’s a real feather in our cap, if you will, to beat Burroughs in the final,” said Goss.
San Marcos earned three quality wins in the tournament, outlasting CIF-Central Section power Bullard in five late Friday, Camarillo in five in the semifinals and Burroughs.
“Real quality wins, I couldn’t be more happy for the guys,” said Goss. He singled out the play of Burdick, Nguyen and Walker, who were all-tourney team selections.
Santa Barbara
The Dons finished fourth with a 2-2 record. They went 2-0 on Friday, sweeping Folsom and beating St. John Bosco in five. In the semifinals on Saturday against Burroughs, they fell in three sets (27-25, 25-20, 22) and later lost to Camarillo in the third-place match, 25-23, 25-21, 25-21.
Outside hitter Jasper Bell and setter Maddox Denver were named to the all-tournament team.
Dos Pueblos
The Chargers finished the tournament with a spirited comeback victory over Thousand Oaks (18-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-23) in the 11th-place match. The win provided a huge lift after a four-set loss to Foothill in the consolation semifinals
Evan Daugherty and Lorenzo DeMatteo were the match leaders for DP. Daugherty had 13 kills against Thousand Oaks and 12 against Foothill. DeMatteo led with 16 and 14 digs in the matches.
“This weekend was so positive for this squad and we improved our competitive mindset,” said coach Ehren Hug. “We picked each other up, scraped, and went for it. I’m so very proud of their grit in the final match, as this is always a long two days and the legs and head are tired. They dug deep and really competed and ended on a high note.”
All-Tournament Team
MVP: Matteo Burdick (San Marcos)
Team: Shane Costello (Downey), Blake Baad (St. John Bosco), Hudson Mott, (Bullard), Stanley Filiaga, Zenji Arias (Camarillo), Maddox Denver, Jasper Bell (Santa Barbara), Noah Duffield, Marco Santiago-Dorn (Camarillo), Tyler Walker, Keanu Nguyen (San Marcos)
