San Marcos was right there with the CIF-SS Division 1 fourth-ranked Santa Barbara High boys volleyball team in Thursday night’s showdown for the Channel League title.
But when you have an outside hitter as dominant as Will Rottman and a pin-point passing game, it’s tough to overtake the Dons.
Rottman blasted 30 kills and setters Henry Haber and Peter Tebbe combined for 38 assists to pace Santa Barbara to a 25-23, 25-18, 25-23 sweep over San Marcos to claim the Channel League title at J.R. Richards Gym with a perfect 8-0 record.
“They’re a very, very good team,” San Marcos coach Roger Kuntz said of the 21-6 Dons. “We gave about everything we could give them tonight. We made a couple of mistakes here and there.”
When the Royals (16-6, 6-2) couldn’t terminate a rally, Santa Barbara made them pay, with Rottman usually taking charge.
“In all facets of the game, we played a pretty doggone good match,”said Kuntz. “We got up against a guy who’s going to get kills.”
The Stanford-bound Rottman ended the second set with a thunderbolt from the left side.
“Some of the balls he hits are just spectacular,” Santa Barbara coach Chad Arneson said. “The kid is very talented and I’m very fortunate to have the pleasure of coaching him for four years at Santa Barbara High. He’s come a long way. We hope to carry that momentum into CIF and make a run for a CIF title.”
A part of the Dons’ arsenal that gets overlooked is their passing. Libero Matt Suh, Riley Roach and Rottman are all solid passers, which keeps them in system and makes it tough for opposing teams to stop them.
“Our passing has been on point,” said Arneson. “With Matt Suh, Riley and Will, who do you serve to? That’s a luxury we get to have.”
Passing turned out to be the key in the first set. After Rottman sided out to give the Dons a 21-20 lead, San Marcos overpassed Haber’s serve and Rottman stuffed it to the floor for a two-point lead.
The Royals got to 23-22 after a net call against the Dons. On the next serve, Suh passed perfectly to Haber who fed Roach for a sideout off the block and a 24-22 advantage.
Cade McLean sided out for San Marcos before Sam Meister finished the set for the Dons with a kill at a hard angle.
Santa Barbara took the lead for good in second set at 11-10 on a mistimed play in the middle by the Royals.
A dig by Suh was converted into a kill by Rottman, middle Kylan O’Connor and Rottman combined on a block and Suh served an ace to increase the lead to 15-11.
More kills from Rottman and Roach and a stuff block from Aiden Douglas in the middle pushed Santa Barbara’s lead to 24-18.
Roach played a strong match for the Dons.
“Riley is secretly the glue of our team, keeping everyone steady and consistent and not getting too up or down,” said Arneson. “When Riley gets going, our whole team gets going. We know Will is our centerpiece, but Riley has a big part in our success.”
Santa Barbara finished the second set with a bang. The Dons dug a ball and Tebbe set Rottman who just detonated on it.
San Marcos, however, wasn’t fazed by the floor-denting thunder. The Royals continued to fight and slugged it out with the Dons in the third set.
Toby Still, Parker Bittner, McLean, Tyler Curt and Josh Willbanks hammered the sets from Tanner Stevens. And McLean made some nifty digs on defense.
“He is going to be the first middle in my program that’s going to play all around next year,” said Kuntz. “He’s an athletic guy and he’s good at all facets of the game. The libero is going to have to go in for somebody else.”
Still had eight kills to tie Bittner for high honors for the Royals.
“I thought he played great,” Kuntz said Still. “On serve-receive, he was money. He was very effective. Tyler Curt, our left-handed opposite, had a good night for him.”
But it wasn’t enough to cool off the Dons, who got six kills from Meister and five from Roach, 10 digs from Suh, a team-high four blocks from O’Connor and two each from Douglas and Rottman.
“I thought we brought the house at ’em,” said Kuntz. “In game 3, we turned it a little bit. They just played a little better than we did.”
Will Rottman bombs a kill to end 2nd set against San Marcos, 25-18. Dons won 1st set 25-23 pic.twitter.com/vTRdluxT8w
— NoozhawkSports (@NoozhawkSports) April 19, 2019
The Royals led 21-18, but Santa Barbara battled back and tied the score at 22-22. On the next two serves, the Royals were hit with a net call and a back-row attack violation. That gave the Dons a 24-22 advantage.
Bittner got a side out, but Santa Barbara answered with a Haber back set to Meister for the match-winning kill.
“Sam has no conscience, he swings and goes for it,” said Arneson. “With his jumping ability, he hits over a lot of players. It’s fun to watch. He’s so athletic and the kid is only sophomore.”
Arneson also was excited about the play of Douglas.
“He’s got that energy and he’s got that bounce and its great to see the energy he’s brought to the net. If Aiden can get us pumped up like that with his blocking and his offense, we’re a tough to team to beat.”
Santa Barbara will be playing in the Division 1 playoffs while San Marcos will be in Division 2. The pairings will be announced next Friday.
Pleased how his team battled with the Dons, Kuntz is excited about its prospects in Division 2,
“I told them, ‘What you showed me tonight, we can go real deep in Division 2.’ Hopefully, that will happen.”