Santa Barbara boys beach volleyball captured the championship over San Marcos at the Hermosa Beach Tournament on Saturday.
Santa Barbara High
The Dons duo of Ford Harman and Raglan Kear went undefeated on the day while Benicio Duarte and Drake Young went 1-1.
In the championship, the No. 2 team of Will Harman and Chase Holdren was down 10-7 in the third game, a must-win.
From there, the Dons went on an eight-point service run en route to the 15-10 win.
“Overall it was a great day for our boys volleyball beach team,” Santa Barbara coach Chad Arneson said. “Shoutout to my coaches for all of their hard work this year, Channing Peake and Jon Roberts.”
San Marcos
For the Royals, it was the third year in a row that the team reached the championship matchup of this tournament.
The road to the finals was not easy, as San Marcos upset South Bay Area league champion Redondo Union after winning two of three pairs and took down Windward in the semifinals.
The duo of Charlie Magid and Taj Chesluk finished the day undefeated in their three matches.
“Their hard work and team chemistry produced results and rewards as they were our most successful pair on the day,” Royals coach Roger Kuntz said of Magid and Chesluk.
Cliff Flicker and Cameron Earls also pulled out a competitive win over Redondo Union.
“Because we did not win our league again, as in years past, we needed to upset Redondo and our guys really performed,” Kuntz said.
In the matchup with Windward, Nate Loomer and Mateo Burdick took down their opponents in two sets to advance the Royals to the championship, where San Marcos managed just one win in the loss.
“Our two teams from the Channel League really showed why we have very good players and teams in our area,” Kuntz said. “We could not be more proud of our players and their growth this season.
“We continue to enjoy a great deal of success both on the beach and indoors.”