The locals ruled in the California Beach Volleyball Association’s Santa Barbara Open tournaments as a pair of San Marcos alums and their respective partners claimed the women’s and men’s titles at East Beach on Sunday.
Taylor Wilson and partner Clara Stowell of Orange County won the women’s championship, beating the local team and two-time champions Katie Spieler and Torrey Van Winden, 28-22.
In a wild men’s title game, San Marcos alum and recent UC Davis graduate Ryan Feller and Dan Stevens outlasted fellow East Beach local Mike Stewart and Gabriel Ospina, 33-31.
Stevens scored on a backhanded shot for a 26-23 lead in the 28-point game. But Stewart/Ospina roared back and reached game-point, 28-27.
It looked like they had it won, but Stevens made two spectacular defensive plays to keep his team in the game. The 6-foot-9 native of England scrambled and propelled his body airborne to keep the ball from hitting the sand. The incredible rally ended when Ospina committed a hitting error, leaving the score at 28-all.
“That was the game changer for us,” said Feller of his partner’s game-saving plays. “The whole momentum switched there; just Dan working his ass off we made it out. It was sweet.”
The digs were total reaction plays.
“I have no ability to read the game,” Stevens cracked. “Just lunge after the ball and hope for the best. That’s all you can do.”
The teams traded side outs before Feller/Stevens took a 30-29 advantage on a net violation. A service error blew their chance at the clinching point.
At 30-30, Stevens used some finesse as he scored off a beautiful a roll shot. Ospina responded with a kill to square the game at 31.
Stevens came through in the clutch again to finish the match. He scored the last two points on a blistering kill and a poke to the back of the court.
“Mike and Gabe are really an amazing team and we kind of came into this as underdogs for sure,” said Feller, who graduated from San Marcos in 2020. “But Dan’s been playing amazing the whole day. I’ve been trying to keep up with him and it turned out good in the end.”
The tournament was a reunion for Feller and Stevens, who started playing together 4-5 years ago.
“We played together a lot but Ryan’s been away for a few years,” said Stevens. “We played together for the first time on Thursday after like a year but we played so much before that.”
Stevens arrived in the U.S. from England six years ago and started playing beach volleyball in Nantucket, Mass. He moved to the Bay Area before landing in Santa Barbara five years ago.
“Then I met this guy (Feller) and he taught me how to play,” he said.
The women’s final feature Stanford teammates against cousins.
Wilson/Stowell, who played with different partners on Stanford’s team that played in the NCAA National Championships this past spring, got off to a great start in Sunday’s final. They blocked for points, hit over their opponents’ block and served an ace during a six-point scoring run to take a 7-1 advantage.
Spieler, a defensive dynamo, and the 6-foot-3 Van Winden, a force at the net, worked their way back and pulled to within three points at 22-19.
“They’re an older, more experience team,” said the 6-2 Stowell, who went 27-4 in matches during her freshman season at Stanford. “They played in college and graduated from top colleges, so we knew they would have a lot of control and a lot more reps and experience. Our focus was to play our game and focus on power, something we’re best at.
“We’re not shooters. We really do better when we put each other up at the net and, even with those big blockers, take those risks, take big risks and serve tough, especially in this wind. That’s what really helped us.
Stowell’s terrific passing and solid setting from Wilson made them a tough team to beat.
Stowell arrived in Santa Barbara on Saturday night after playing in an AVP pro event in Denver on Friday and Saturday. She showed no signs of fatigue all day.
“I love playing with her,” said Wilson, who played in the No. 2 spot in Stanford’s lineup and went 25-7 in her junior year. “Fun day, good competition. We found our groove and played good volleyball.”
They finished the game on a nice play: Stowell bumping a tight pass out of the net and straight up for Wilson to put away.
Wilson said playing against Spieler in the final made her feel like she’d come full circle in her beach volleyball career in Santa Barbara.
“Katie was one of my first beach coaches here, so it was a full-circle moment to play her in the finals of the Santa Barbara Open.”