Santa Barbara High Boys Volleyball Defeated in Five Sets by Sage Hill in CIF-SS Division Four Championship Match

With the CIF Southern Section Division 4 Championship Plaque at its fingertips the Santa Barbara High boys’ volleyball team had no answer for Sage Hill and its superstar outside hitter Jackson Cryst.

The visiting Lightning took control in the decisive fifth set behind Cryst’s dominance and captured a 15-25, 25-14, 18-25, 25-20, 15-8 victory on Saturday afternoon at J.R. Richards Gymnasium.

“To get here is quite an accomplishment, but to win it is even harder,” said Santa Barbara High coach Chad Arneson. “Give our boys a lot of credit they played hard. Unfortunately it wasn’t one of our best overall team performances, but I’m so proud of these boys.”

The Dons advanced to the CIF-SS Division 4 Championship games despite finishing third in the Channel League. Santa Barbara has thrived in the playoffs as a balanced unit with nearly equal contributions coming from everyone on the floor.

Senior Benicio Duarte  sophomore Hayes Costner led the way for Santa Barbara offensively with 12 kills apiece. 

“I’m proud of our guys. We did not look this good at the start of the season,” said Santa Barbara High senior defensive specialist Jack Goligoski, who finished with a team-high three aces . “This whole playoff run, we’ve kind of found our lineup and everyone’s just stepped up and played great team volleyball. We don’t have any real standouts, but we always play really well together.”

Santa Barbara was dominant in the opening set, including a 5-1 run capped off by a Costner kill for the final point. However, Sage Hill flipped the script in set 2, jumping out to a 17-7 lead and evened the match at one set apiece after an electric ace serve by Cryst.

Sage Hill humped out to a 4-0 lead in set three after a Santa Barbara hitting error, but the Dons quickly recovered and tied the set at 6-6 on a kill by Kristian Dybdahl. 

The momentum shift was evident as a Luke Zuffelato kill increased the Santa Barbara lead to 19-13. A dump by Santa Barbara setter Chase Holdren brought the Dons to set point at 24-18 and Santa Barbara clinched the set on a Sage Hill hitting error.

Set four was tight throughout as a solo block by Zuffelato cut the Santa Barbara deficit to 22-20 and forced a Sage Hill timeout. 

Cryst delivered a powerful spike out of the timeout to give Sage Hill a 23-20 lead and the Lightning went on to force a fifth and final set after an ace serve by Ethan McNutt.

In set five, a kill by Costner cut the Santa Barbara deficit to 7-6, but  a Cryst kill gave Sage Hill a 9-7 lead and forced a Santa Barbara time out.

After the break Sage Hill closed the match on a 6-1 run, including three powerful kills by Cryst and a solo block that gave the lightning a 14-8 lead. Sage Hill clinched set five and the CIF-SS Championship on a Santa Barbara hitting error.

Cryst, who is committed to play college volleyball for  reigning NCAA Division 1 National Champions Long Beach State, had six kills in the fifth set.

“We definitely rely on him, but the others that contributed absolutely made an impact and made his job easier,” said Sage Hill coach Jordan Hoppe of Cryst. “Obviously he is very talented and has incredible gifts, but without the other guys we don’t win a title.”

The victory clinched back-to-back CIF-SS Championships for Sage Hill as the Lightning won in Division 5 last season.