It took five sets, but the Santa Barbara High boys’ volleyball team stood tall down the stretch to overcome a scrappy Windward team 25-21, 27-29, 25-20, 23-25,15-9 in a non-league contest on Tuesday night.
It was senior night for the Dons, and Alex Rottman made his presence felt in his last regular-season match at J.R. Richards gymnasium. Rottman finished with 33 kills and six aces, and Santa Barbara needed all of his statistical contributions to secure the victory.
“You have to give Windward a lot of credit. We knew coming in that they were going to be a really good team,” said Santa Barbara coach Chad Arneson. “It was senior night. I wanted to get all my seniors in, and unfortunately Windward made us earn everything. We weren’t playing really good, clean volleyball, but we found a way to pull it off.”