Santa Barbara beats Dos Pueblos in volleyball
The Santa Barbara girls volleyball team defeated the visiting Dos Pueblos squad Tuesday.
Scores were 25-21, 13-25, 23-25 and 16-14.
Coach Kristin Hempy credited “the vocal support from our bench, huge blocking effort and some incredible digging supporting us in the victory.
“Overall it was a great night of talented volleyball,” Hempy told the News-Press in an email. “SB mixed up our defense and worked on specific blocking patterns after our last game against DP, which proved successful.
“Our spark was lit by Campbell Brown in the middle and her superb blocking effort,” the coach said. “She had 8 blocks and 5 kills and was key to limiting DP’s powerful arm swings.
“DP has a lot of talented hitters, but SB libero Caroline Koceman was able to dig most of what was dished out at her, leading our defense with 33 digs,” Hempy continued.
“Outside Shae Delany came through big with a huge 21 kills. Outside Emma Zuffelato had 14 kills and 12 digs,” the coach said. “Both our outsides mixed up their patterns and found the weak spots in DP’s defense.”
The Dons are now 12-4 overall and 4-2 league. They’ll take on San Marcos today.
Dos Pueblos coach Megan O’Carroll conceded that Tuesday’s match was a rough one for the Chargers.
“We were struggling a little bit with injuries and being run down, and that showed tonight,” O’Carroll said Tuesday in an email to the News-Press. “Gotta hand it to Santa Barbara, who came out firing and served super tough.
“We had some really great moments of defensive effort, but couldn’t sustain any consistency over the five sets,” the coach said.
“We talked about not letting this loss define our season and instead use it as motivation to finish the rest of league on a super high note,” O’Carroll said.
The Chargers’ Makeila Cervantes made 5 kills, 5 digs and 2 aces.
Here are stats for other Dos Pueblos athletes.
Chloe Hoffman had 24 kills, 2 aces and 3 blocks.
Portia Sherman had 17 kills and 2 aces.
Natali Flint made 47 assists and two blocks.
Lily Mires made 4 kills and 4 blocks.
The Chargers are now 5-1 for the league and 25-5 overall.
CARPINTERIA DEFEATS FILLMORE
The Carpinteria girls tennis team defeated Fillmore 15-3 Tuesday in a Citrus Coast League match.
“I was really happy with how we played,” Coach Charles Bryants told the News-Press in an email. “We were sharp in both singles and doubles while being patient yet aggressive.
“I was impressed with Fillmore as well.They are a much improved team from a few years ago, and there is a lot of potential to shock a few teams down the road.”
In singles, Silke Leonard led Carpinteria with a 3-0 sweep.
“She has played so well lately and has enjoyed being the one dictating play,” Bryants said. “She is able to really get her opponent off the court now and open up a few more opportunities with that strategy.
“Ariana Lounsbury went 2-1 and was an absolute plugger and fighter out there on the courts,” the coach said. “She is relentless and never gives up on a ball. She is an inspiration to her teammates with her no-quit attitude.
“I was really proud of her today!” Bryants said Tuesday.
“Neida Garcia went 1-0 before being subbed out. She too looked good out there and has shown a lot of improvement,” the coach said.
“In doubles, Valerie Ojeda/Cassandra Maya Prado went 3-0 on the day and did not drop a game,” Bryants said. “Zahra Porinsh went 2-0 with sister Sasha and 1-0 with Abbie Delwiche. It was fun to see the sisters play together. They were each other’s biggest supporters.”
Natalia Perez went 2-0 with Nansy Velasquez and 1-0 with Natalie Martinez.
Bryants said the team’s good practice on Monday extended into Tuesday’s successful match. He and his team are hoping to keep up the pace for today’s match against Malibu.
Carpinteria is now 7-4 overall and 3-0 in the league.
LAGUNA BLANCA
Laguna Blanca lost a Tri-Valley League volleyball match Tuesday at Cate School in Carpinteria.
Cate won 25-18, 25-14 and 25-15.
Laguna Blanca’s Lola Hall made 7 kills. Frances Carlson had 12 digs
Laguna Blanca is at Grace Brethren today and will host the Simi Valley school on Friday.
UCSB GOLF
The UCSB golf team finished 13th Tuesday at the Nick Watney Invitational at the San Joaquin Country Club.
The Gauchos completed the invitational with a 52-over par 904, according to a news release.
UCSB was five strokes behind UC San Diego, which placed 12th and six behind Idaho, which placed 11th.
Matt Monheim and Andrew Ricci led the Gauchos, shooting a 13-over par 226 to finish tied with four other golfers for 51st place. Brian Arnold was close behind, with his 15-over par 228 putting him in a tie for 57th, according to the news release.
Rajvir Bedi shot a 16-over par 229 to share 60th place. Julian Maxwell finished 71st with a 19-over par 232.
email: dmason@newspress.com