It was an all-local final at the 45th Dos Pueblos Invitational, with Santa Barbara High taking the title with a one-game 30-26 victory over San Marcos on Saturday evening at the Thunderdome.
“I am so proud of our boys and the way they performed, everyone contributed,” said Santa Barbara coach Chad Arneson.”It was definitely the longest tournament I’ve ever been part of in my 18 years coaching at Santa Barbara High School.”
Sophomore Ford Harman of the Dons was named the tournament MVP and sophomores Will Harmon and Mason Rice were selected to the all-tournament team.
Rice served 10 straight aces in a semifinal win over Oak Park. Santa Barbara defeated St.Francis in its first playoff game.
Arneson praised the defense of junior libero Ryan Slater.
San Marcos went 4-0 in pool play against Buena, South Pasadena, El Camino Real and Capistrano Valley Christian, and was seeded first in the 16-team playoffs.
The Royals opened the playoffs by rolling past Granada Hills (30-16), beat Harvard Westlake (30-27) and squeaked past Palisades Charter (30-28).
Junior setter Hansen Streeter and senior middle hitter Aiden Paizer were selected to the all-tournament team.
The Royals and Dons are scheduled to meet in their Channel League match on Thursday at Santa Barbara.
In other tournament action, Carpinteria finished second in its pool and advanced to the round of 16. The Warriors were beaten by Palisades Charter.
Diesel Slade led Carpinteria on the day with 22 kills and 57 digs, Joaquin Gonzalez had 18 kills and Zach Isaac and River Taff each had 14. Sebastian Curry was the digs leader with 70 and Isaac had 52.
