After 29 years of talented teams that fell short of the ultimate goal, the 2021 iteration of the Santa Barbara High boys’ volleyball team finished the job and captured the CIF-SS Division 2 Championships.
The Dons overcame a furious rally by visiting Huntington Beach, as the Oilers shook off a slow start to force a decisive fifth set. However, Santa Barbara would not be denied and rode the right arm of UCSB-bound senior Sam Meister to a 3-2 (25-21, 25-18, 29-31, 21-25, 15-9) victory.
“Those last couple of (points) I was just swinging as hard as I could. I wasn’t even looking at the block anymore. I was just ripping it,” said Meister, who finished with a team-high 28 kills. “It means a lot to me. I’m so happy it ended like this. It would have been hard to end it on a loss in the finals at home.”