Hope and excitement were in the air for local high school and college teams at the first Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Press Luncheon of the school year on Monday at Harry’s Plaza Cafe.
High school football and girls volleyball kicked off the fall sports schedule last week, with girls flag football soon to follow.
At the collegiate level, UC Santa Barbara Women’s Soccer began its season while the men’s squad played its final season tuneup against Westmont in the Community Shield game. Santa Barbara City College will begin its fall sports season this weekend.
San Marcos, Santa Barbara and Dos Pueblos Football were in attendance coming off season-opening wins on Friday, encouraging signs before a tough Channel League schedule.
“It was a great home opener for us,” Royals head coach Ralph Molina said. “It was a great opportunity for some of our guys to step up and play.”
Charger head coach AJ Pateras echoed this sentiment for his squad.
“We were really excited to start the season 1-0,” Pateras said. “I don’t think anyone can say that they don’t want to do that.”
The opening-night win was a big one in Nate Mendoza’s debut as Santa Barbara High’s head football coach, but he also believes that his team has “a lot to improve on.”
“It was a great atmosphere,” Mendoza said of the win at Thousand Oaks. “It’s nice to enjoy the win but it’s fun to get into the film room on Saturday and bring the boys back down to earth.”
The excitement of a new season was also evident for the local high school girls volleyball teams, who began their seasons last week with non-league games throughout the week and the Cardinal Classic tournament on Saturday, which was hosted by Bishop Diego.
“It’s been a good start to our season… there’s been a lot of learning so far,” Laguna Blanca head coach Jason Donnelly said. “We’re looking forward to a big year.”
With one week under their belts, the San Marcos and Santa Barbara girls volleyball teams are already seeing plenty of improvement, another reason to be hopeful for the rest of the season.
“The girls are working hard in practice to improve,” Royals co-coach Dwayne Hauschild said. “We’re moving in the right direction.”
“I’m pleased with how our team is developing so far,” Dons head coach Kristen Hempy said. “We’ve seen a lot of improvement in just the last week of play, so I’m really excited to see how the girls continue to improve.”
At Providence, a new campus and gym for the volleyball program is cause for high hopes for athletic director Dan Terry and the Patriots.
“We’re at an exciting point at Providence right now, especially for our volleyball program,” Terry said. “We’re growing very fast… I think the future is bright for our volleyball teams.”
Girls flag football made its Round Table Luncheon debut, with Santa Barbara High head coach Gabe Renteria in attendance.
“I’m very excited for the start of the season,” Renteria said. “All the programs in the area are going to be highly competitive.”
With hopes high across town, fall athletics will continue this week as boys water, girls tennis and golf and cross country join football and girls volleyball in official action.
The teams and student-athletes in attendance, by order of presentation:
Bishop Diego Girls Volleyball: Sage Thorne-Thompson, Vivi Klentner
UCSB Women’s Soccer: Dylan Lewis, Manuri Alwis
Laguna Blanca Girls Volleyball: Natalie Bianchi, Sarah Woodhouse
San Marcos Girls Volleyball: Katie Kracke, Kaylin Cooney
San Marcos Tackle Football: Diego Pedroza, Luke Crawford, Kyle Rivas
Santa Barbara Tackle Football: Chaz Rosales, Adrian Chavez, Koa Herrera
Santa Barbara Flag Football: Dayzia Mendoza, Izzy Garofalo, Carolina Esparza
Bishop Diego Tackle Football: Tua Rojas, Tristan Fui
Providence Girls Volleyball: Tessa Knoles, Lexi Underwood
Dos Pueblos Tackle Football: Matthew Welch, Roman Alonzo
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