Santa Barbara Dons outlast Huntington Beach to win CIF Volleyball Championship

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The wait is over!

Santa Barbara High School boys volleyball captures the CIF-SS Division 2 Championship with a hard-fought five set victory over Huntington Beach.

It is the Dons first boys volleyball CIF crown since 1992.

Chad Arneson was a player on that Dons team and now he finally wins it all as the head coach after finishing runner-up in four previous trips to the finals(2004, 2007, 2008 and 2013).

UCSB-bound senior Sam Meister had a game-high 28 kills while junior standout Alex Rottman added 27 kills.

The Dons won the first two sets 25-21 and 25-18 but the Oilers didn't go away quietly.

The visitors won a marathon set three 31-29 and followed it up by taking the fourth set 25-21.

But the Dons regrouped and Meister and Rottman delivered big swings as they took that final set 15-9.

Senior setter Peter Tebbe had 60 assists for the Dons while Princeton-bound libero Matt Suh was solid for the 13-0 Dons.

Santa Barbara will continue their season in the CIF-State SoCal Regional Playoffs beginning on Tuesday, June 8 at home against 15-0 Chatsworth.