Newport Harbor fell short in its semifinal, as Dos Pueblos of Goleta upset the top-seeded Sailors, 25-18, 25-23.
For a moment, it looked as though the tournament’s headline title match would feature two Santa Barbara-area programs and not in Huntington Beach.
Dos Pueblos against Santa Barbara sounded good to Dos Pueblos Coach Dwayne Hauschild.
Soon, assistant coach Tina Brown found tournament director Trent Jackson and talked to him about moving the location of the championship up Highway 101.
If Santa Barbara beat Orange Lutheran, Jackson said he was OK with Dos Pueblos playing Santa Barbara for the championship in Santa Barbara.
“That’s what we were hoping for,” said Hauschild, as he rooted for rival Santa Barbara against Orange Lutheran. “If that actually happened, then maybe we don’t have to drive two and a half hours on the 405.”
The Chargers (8-1) are going to have to make that 284-mile round trip again.
Orange Lutheran rallied to beat Santa Barbara, 20-25, 25-22, 15-10, keeping the Division I title match in Huntington Beach.
The Chargers had already checked out of their Costa Mesa hotel. They’ll come back for a one-day visit this time.
Don’t be surprised if Glenn returns Monday night to watch. He would rather have his team in the final, and so would’ve Corona del Mar Coach Darryl Gan, whose team fell out of contention after losing to Santa Barbara, 25-13, 25-19, in the quarterfinals.
CdM (6-2) fought its way to the quarterfinals by coming from behind to beat rival Laguna Beach, 25-9, 22-25, 16-14.
The Breakers had match point at 14-9, but then Jenny Martin served. She never gave up the ball.
Martin served seven straight times, dropping two service aces to lead the Sea Kings to a dramatic victory.
