GIRLS’ VOLLEYBALL : Thousand Oaks Finishes 5th in Tournament

The Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions, a pre-playoff tune-up for high school girls’ volleyball teams, gave Thousand Oaks a chance to prove it is ready for a long postseason drive.

Thousand Oaks (17-4) rebounded from a gut-wrenching, five-game loss to top-seeded Laguna Beach on Friday in the quarterfinals of the 16-team event to claim fifth place Saturday with impressive wins over Bakersfield Highland and Torrey Pines.

Senior transfer Tricia Tuley, feeling at home in the Santa Barbara High gym where she starred for the Dons the last two seasons, sparked the Thousand Oaks attack with nine kills in a 15-13, 3-15, 15-11, 15-13 win over Highland. Tuley made 12 more kills as the Lancers beat Torrey Pines, 15-9, 8-15, 15-10, 15-7.

Middle blocker Carolyn Penfield also played a big role in the match against Torrey Pines, taking control of the net with seven kills and seven blocks. Penfield had a team-high five blocks against Highland.

Nordhoff (13-3) finished eighth after losing in five games to Torrey Pines and in four to Highland.

Royal (10-8), a tournament finalist a year ago, dropped five-game matches against San Clemente and Arroyo Grande and finished 12th.