Thursday night’s CIF-Southern Section Division 2 second-round volleyball match between Valencia and Yucaipa may have been three games long, but the Vikings earned the win in the opening frame.
The Vikings jumped out to an early lead in the home gym, but the Thunderbirds snuck up to steal it at 21-20 when Valencia was called for a net violation.
A kill from Lo Russ knotted the score at 24-all, but earning the game point was a lengthy process.
Valencia (24-10, 9-1 in Foothill League) and Yucaipa (20-8, 14-0 in Citrus Belt) went back and forth securing a one-point lead, sometimes on an organized score and others on the opponent’s mistake.
Eventually, Jess Throckmorton broke through with a tip to win Game 1, 32-30. The senior totaled 11 kills and 18 digs in the match.
“That felt great,” Throckmorton said. “It was just a constant fight … They had game point, we had game point. It was just back and forth for the entire time, and it felt … it was like, liberating to get that first game done.”
The following two games weren’t nearly as dramatic.
The Vikings captured a lead and never looked back, winning 25-20 after working around Yucaipa’s top outside hitter, Marissa Holt.
“We worked on (our game plan), we talked about it as a team and our blockers executed really well, which was a huge part of our game plan,” said outside hitter Lauryn Shockley, who finished the night with a team-high 19 kills. “We all communicated together and it really just came together tonight.”
The Thunderbirds came within three points of a lead in Game 3 but were never able to capitalize as Valencia took the game 25-18.
The Vikings next play Esperanza on Saturday at 7 p.m. in the CIF-SS Division 2 quarterfinals.
Notre Dame 3, Hart 0
The Indians lost in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 2 playoffs to Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks 19-25, 22-25, 22-25.
Megan Soto led the team with 14 kills. Makenna Fall had 19 digs and CJ Catabona followed with 17 digs. Kylie Mattson had 20 assists.
SCCS 3, University Prep 0
The Cardinals (16-6, 6-4 in Heritage League) swept the Jaguars 25-15, 25-17, 25-19 in the CIF-SS Division 9 playoffs.
Kalona Marr registered 12 kills and four aces. Aaronya Crosswhite added 11 kills and seven digs, while Megan Dombrowsky had 28 assists and 11 digs.
SCCS next plays Rancho Christian on Saturday.
Malibu 3, Trinity 0
The Knights (15-8-1, 8-2 in Heritage League) lost 14-25, 16-25, 19-25 in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 8 playoffs. Kathryn Brooks had 15 assists and two aces and Allie Brown had five kills and four blocks. Hannah Caddow executed 12 digs, four kills and 3 aces.
