Albert Einstein Academy girls volleyball rallied in game four Thursday to force a final frame, but the Rockets saw their season come to an end in the second round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 10 playoffs, falling to San Jacinto Valley Academy at Legacy Volleyball Club, 3-2.
They lost game five, 15-8, but showed resiliency just to get that far.
Down 18-9 in the fourth game, Rockets coach Ken Erenberg called a timeout to deliver a message to a team that had quit communicating.
“When I called timeout I told them, ‘I’m done talking, it’s up to you on the court now,’” Erenberg said.
Albert Einstein responded with a 16-5 run that saw Jaclyn Bogden register three of her six aces and Helen Rodriguez tally the final kill of the game to bring her total to 13 and give the Rockets the 25-23 victory.
Albert Einstein began game five with a 4-0 lead, but a serving error opened a run of nine unanswered points for San Jacinto. Rocket Brianna Sanford’s 10th kill brought the score to 13-8, but two points wrapped up the road win for the Wolves, 15-8.
Game one set the tone for the back-and-forth match as the Rockets weathered six ties and five lead changes to win 25-18.
San Jacinto went up 2-1, snatching a 27-25 win in a game two that saw 10 ties and five lead changes, and winning game three 25-17 behind a 12-4 run to break a 13-13 tie.
Albert Einstein finishes the season with a 15-5 overall record.
