Ryan Drake was a scoring machine for the Santa Barbara High boys water polo team in the Channel League championship game, while Shae Delany racked up double-doubles in two girls volleyball playoff victories to put the Dons in the CIF-Southern Section finals.
The performances earned them Athletic of the Week honors at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Press Luncheon at Harry’s Plaza Cafe.
Delany’s offensive and defensive production helped the Division 6 top-seeded Dons reach the CIF championships for the first time since 2008. The junior outside hitter posted 18 kills and 17 digs in a sweep of Whittier’s California High in the quarterfinals and followed with a 12-kill, 14-dig effort in a sweep over No. 4-seed Sunny Hills in the semifinals.
Santa Barbara will play for the title on Saturday at home against El Rancho High of Pico Rivera. The time of the game will be determined later this week.
Drake, a senior, poured in 10 goals for the Dons in 13-10 victory over San Marcos in the championship game of the Channel League Tournament. The 10 goals were the most scored by a Santa Barbara player since Sawyer Rhodes twice accomplished the feat during the 2016 season.
Drake and the Dons begin play in the CIF-SS Division 1 water polo playoffs on Wednesday with a first-round home game against Dana Hills.
The male honorable mention choices were Canan Ramirez (Bishop Diego football), Qu’ran Gossett (Bishop Diego football, and a previous winner), Michael Randazzo (UCSB cross country) and Michael Luckhurst (Bishop Diego football).
The other female candidates for the award included Amy Mancinelli (Bishop Diego volleyball), Natasha Gill (San Marcos tennis) and Michelle Ohwobete (UCSB volleyball).
The Athletes of the Week are selected by a vote from members of the local sports media. Nominations for the award are encouraged. They should be sent to sports@noozhawk.com by Sunday at 10 a.m.
The award is sponsored by the law firm Maho-Prentice.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
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