Santa Barbara High girls volleyball continued its season turnaround with a five-set upset victory to hand rival San Marcos its first Channel League loss on Thursday night at JR Richards Gym.
The Dons had their backs against the wall after set three, but they battled back and won two straight sets to clinch the win, 18-25, 25-22, 25-13, 27-25, 15-9.
“This match is always a big, high-energy crosstown rivalry match,” Santa Barbara High coach Kristin Hempy said. “We’ve got nothing to lose, they were undefeated, we’re in fourth place… I think the girls just really proved that they have the heart.”
Since beginning the season with five straight losses and a 1-3 record in Channel League play, Santa Barbara High has improved immensely and have themselves fighting for a playoff spot with a 7-4 league record in fourth place.
“They show up every day, and we had a slow start… we kept telling them to just show up, work hard and be disciplined,” Hempy said. “We make errors still, but the trajectory has been so fun and inspiring to see.
“They really have worked for it, they didn’t come into this with anything handed to them.”
The first set was a back-and-forth affair early, as the two teams were knotted up at 12-12 before a four-point swing on an Elena Thomas serving run gave the Royals the lead.
San Marcos never gave up that lead for the rest of the set, pulling away for the 25-18 win and the 1-0 advantage.
After some more seesaw action to begin the second set, the outside-hitting duo of freshman Kira Elliott and senior Keenan Engebretson caught fire to power the Dons to a 19-13 lead.
Elliott and Engebretson led the Santa Barbara High offensive attack with 15 and 12 kills, respectively.
However, the Royals then ripped off seven straight points on an Avery Leck service run to take the 20-19 lead.
In the final stretch of the second set, Santa Barbara High took advantage of several San Marcos miscues and violations to hold on for the 25-22 win to even the match up.
“I’ll give [Santa Barbara] credit, but a lot of it if you looked at our side of the scoresheet was a lot of errors, just not our best,” San Marcos coach Dwayne Hauschild said.
“Our composure just wasn’t as strong as it should be tonight and some of that had to do with [Santa Barbara’s] service game and our serve receive game primarily.”
The third set was similar to the first two in that both sides exchanged runs early until the Dons had an 11-9 lead.
At that point, Josie Gamberdella stepped up to the service line and went on a dominant 12-point run to give the Royals a 21-11 lead. From there, they cruised to the 25-13 win for the 2-1 advantage.
“Josie is a service weapon for us, I love when she’s back there, it gives me a lot of confidence that she hits whatever targets I call and she’s confident in doing it,” Hauschild said.
The fourth set seemed to be firmly in Santa Barbara High’s control, as they fed off the student section at JR Richards Gym and raced out to a 22-16 lead.
However, Thomas and the Royals came roaring back, going on an 8-1 run to take a 24-23 advantage and force a set point in their favor.
Thomas led her team offensively with 14 kills to go with four blocks and four aces.
Following a San Marcos service error, the two sides exchanged points until the Dons were up 26-25 on a side out. On the set point, Gwen Chenoweth fed Lola Heckman in the middle, who hammered home the kill for the 27-25 win and to force a fifth set.
The set-four win sent the crowd into a frenzy, providing the Dons with plenty of late momentum.
“By the time we got to Set 5, I never want to jinx anything, but I thought we had the momentum,” Hempy said. “When we play nervous or scared they get tight, miss serves and miss hits, but we were really so confident.
“Going into that set they were excited, and when they’re like that they play looser and relaxed and (are) just going after it.”
Santa Barbara High took advantage of that energy swing in the final set, scoring four straight points after it was tied at 4-4 to force a San Marcos timeout.
The timeout didn’t phase the Dons, as they kept the Royals at an arm’s length thanks in part to stellar play on the outside from Elliott.
“[Elliott] is just such a fun player, she has a big smile after almost everything,” Hempy said. “She has great energy, great attitude, she works hard and she listens. To have that as just a freshman, she’s got a great future ahead of her. She’s going to be a great asset to the program.
“She was our go to in set five because she was just being aggressive… she was ripping balls and produced for us, it was great for her to have that moment.”
Behind Elliott’s lively right arm and a strong defensive effort, Santa Barbara High pulled out the 15-9 win in set five and the fans in Olive and Gold stormed the court.
“This is obviously a difficult place to play here… they had a really good student section today so this is a difficult place to come in and try to steal one,” Hauschild said.
Paylin Marcillac led the Dons defense with 19 digs while Chenoweth provided seven digs to go with her 42 assists. In the middle, Heckman had five kills and five blocks.
As for the Royals, Charlotte Hastings tallied 12 kills while Gracie Stone had 11 kills and four blocks. Cora Loomer had a strong night at the net with eight kills and seven blocks.
Santa Barbara High (14-13, 7-4 Channel League) will look to carry this momentum into a road matchup against Pacifica on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, San Marcos (23-5, 9-1 Channel League) will have a chance to shake off its first league loss against Ventura on the road on Tuesday.
“It just shows that there’s opportunities to learn as a team still,” Hauschild said of suffering their first league loss. “In the biggest picture I hope that this is an opportunity for a little reset.
“We were undefeated until this point and it’s hard to remain undefeated in any league, let alone the Channel.”