A furious rally at the end of set four by the Santa Barbara High boys’ volleyball team halted a San Marcos surge and secured a 25-20, 27-25, 20-25, 28-26 victory for the Dons on Thursday night at J.R. Richards Gymnasium.
Will Harman led the way for Santa Barbara with 21 kills as the Dons emerged victorious in a pivotal early season rivalry match.
“We’ve been figuring out our team and this was definitely a great bonding experience to have this kind of win for our group,” said Santa Barbara coach Chad Arneson. “San Marcos came on strong in game four. It definitely could have gone to five.”
The Dons came out strong behind a fiery first set by middle blocker Mikey Denver, who finished with ten kills and five blocks. Back-to-back solo blocks by Denver gave Santa Barbara a 7-3 lead.
Santa Barbara extended its lead in set one to 15-7 on a kill by Harman and clinched the set 25-20 on another Harman kill.
In set two, San Marcos jumped out to a 10-3 lead on a block by Declan McClintock. However, Santa Barbara methodically worked its way back into the set and tied the score at 14-14 on a solo block by Denver.
A kill by Santa Barbara star outside hitter Raglan Kear gave the Dons a 26-25 lead and Kear followed with a block that clinched the set and put the Dons within one-set of victory.
With one more opportunity to extend the match San Marcos picked up its execution and 8-3 lead with a team block of a Kear spike.
An ace serve by San Marcos senior setter Camero Earls increased the Royals lead to 13-10, but Santa Barbara came right back and evened the score at 16-16 on a kill by Kear.
A kill by Mason Rice capped off an 8-4 San Marcos run and increased the Royals’ lead to 24-20. San Marcos clinched the third set on a kill by Jack Wilson to avoid the sweep.
Wilson finished with a team-high 14 kills.
“I was really proud of our ability to come back in the third set and not just give up and go down 3-0 tonight,” said San Marcos coach Roger Kuntz. “We went five sets in here last year and then we beat them in three {at home}. It’s tough to get a win here.
In set four, San Marcos led 22-18 and appeared poised to force a fifth set, but Santa Barbara ripped off a 6-1 run in the clutch capped off by a Harman Kill that gave the Dons a 24-23 lead.
A spike off the block by Wilson put San Marcos back ahead 26-25, but San Marcos closed the match on a 3-0 run and clinched the fourth set 28-26 when Wilson narrowly hit long.
With the victory Santa Barbara improves to 4-1 overall and 3-0 in Channel League. San Marcos drops to 9-2 overall and 2-1 in Channel League play.