Santa Barbara High boys volleyball scrapped its way to a four-set victory over Diamond Ranch in the first round of the CIF-SS Div. 3 playoffs on Wednesday inside J.R. Richards Gym.
The Dons consistently came through down the stretch to earn the win and will now hit the road to take on Servite in the second round on Friday at 6 p.m. in Anaheim.
“That was a tough first-round match… We needed to realize that that’s what’s going to happen in the playoffs. It’s not going to be easy. I don’t care what division we are, every team has earned a right to be in the playoffs by working hard, and it showed,” Santa Barbara High head coach Chad Arneson said.
“That was a good test for us for sure, because we know that we’re going to be going away (for Round 2). That was a big, big win for us.”
Maddox Denver set the tone with back-to-back aces to begin the opening set and take an early 2-0 lead. The Dons rode that momentum to a 5-1 advantage, but the Panthers battled back to cut the deficit to 6-5.
Kristian Dybdahl then sparked a Santa Barbara run with a big kill on the outside before heading to the service line and collecting a pair of aces. His aces, paired with a kill out of the middle from Denver, grew the lead to 10-5 and prompted a Diamond Ranch timeout.
The timeout didn’t slow down the Dons, who continued to take advantage of Diamond Ranch and pulled away for a strong lead at 18-11.
A stellar service run by Hunter Cardinas of the Panthers cut that lead down to 18-16, but Santa Barbara regrouped and scrapped its way to a 25-21 set-one victory.
“That’s a well-coached team, scrappy team,” Arneson said of Diamond Ranch. “They kind of remind me of Downey from the TOC. They have two great outside hitters and are really disciplined on their defense.”
After a back-and-forth start to the second, Diamond Ranch took its first lead of the night at 13-12. However, the two teams continued to see-saw as the set was tied on five separate occasions.
One of those occasions was at 15-15, where a Panther service error gave the Dons the lead and the serve. Jasper Bell stepped to the line, and SB rattled off three straight points to go up 19-15.
Diamond Ranch once again came storming back late in the set, cutting the SB lead to one point to 22-21. The Dons answered with back-to-back points to reach set point at 24-21, but the set continued as the Panthers rattled off three points of their own to tie it up at 24.
Levi Zapata came through in the clutch for the Dons, hammering a kill out of the middle and coming up with a block on consecutive points to give his team a 26-24 win.
“I thought we got a little better on keeping our discipline and not being down on ourselves,” Arneson said of the late-set success for his team. “The mantra right now for the playoffs is positivity, being positive onto the next play, and keep your head up.”
The third set was tight early, but a string of two mis-hits and a violation by Diamond Ranch allowed the Dons to pull away for an 8-4 advantage. After a Panther timeout, Bell continued to dominate the service line as SB extended its lead to 11-4.
Bell shared the team lead in kills with 13, as Dybdahl recorded 13 as well to go along with his five aces.
The Panthers, as they had all match, continued to scrap and went on an 8-1 scoring run to even the set at 12-12. The two sides then exchanged points until Diamond Ranch took a 17-15 lead and prompted a timeout by Arneson.
The Dons came out of the break with three straight points to claim the lead, and the two sides continued to battle to a 21-21 tie. However, this time it was the Panthers who pulled it out, forcing a fourth set with a 25-22 win.
The fourth set was tightly contested until a Panther service error tied the set at 11-11, as the Dons responded with four straight points to take a 15-11 lead.
The Panthers continued their trend of not going away quietly, clawing back to tie the set at 17-17. However, the Dons once again regained control with kills from Dybdahl and Bell and an ace from Dybdahl to go up 20-17.
Santa Barbara maintained its multiple-score lead for the rest of the set, with a Diamond Ranch service error sealing the first-round victory.
Denver was all over the court once again for the Dons, filling up the stat sheet with 31 assists, eight digs, six kills and four aces. Meanwhile, Jackson McDermott held down the defensive end with a team-high 17 digs.
“Maddox has been great. He’s been one of the co-captains, my Tom Brady, as you would say, out on the court that manages the offense really well,” Arneson said. “He’s a really level-headed kid. I’m really excited. I’m glad that I get him two more years, and he’s really carried us with his offense.
“I also thought Jackson McDermott did great with his defense and offense.”
The Dons are now 18-7 on the season heading into their second-round playoff matchup.