Four sets couldn’t decide a winner in Friday night’s Foothill League contest between Hart Indian boys’ volleyball and the Golden Valley Grizzlies.
Facing match point several times in the fourth set that neared the record books, the Grizzlies held on and rallied to force a fifth game.
Hart took control in the fifth set and won the match as both teams were gassed after the lengthy fourth.
The Indians took the match 25-23, 22-25, 25-15, 37-39, 15-9.
Golden Valley’s 39-37 fourth-set win was the most points either coach had ever seen in their coaching careers. Hart (9-1, 1-0) reached match point several times but the Grizzlies (4-1, 1-1) just wouldn’t go away. Sophomore Nicholas Waldron blocked the match’s leading attacker Owen Douphner twice.
Douphner finished with 25 kills with a .750% hitting percentage and four aces.
The long set ended with a Hart hitting error and a fifth set was forced. The Grizzlies had all the momentum on their side but were gassed.
Hart took an early lead in the final set and a Douphner kill ended the night at 15-9.
The Indians overcame tons of unforced errors, highlighted by 25 errors from the service line, and some serve receive struggles.
“When the ball doesn’t go in, it’s always frustrating,” Hart coach Loy Mueller said. “Twenty-five service errors is not OK, ever. It’s just a matter of focus. I honestly think we weren’t making enough aggressive mistakes and our errors were just kind of silly service errors.”
Hart took the first set after a kill by senior Hank Kaufman. The senior outside finished with 21 kills and has been a huge addition in his first year with the team.
“I would just say passing and Hank are the biggest improvements,” Douphner said on improvements from last season. “Just having that big combo at the outside is just disgusting.”
The Grizzlies were ready to fight back in the second set and held on for another tight battle. Late in the second game, Hart was out of rotation on back-to-back plays, giving Golden Valley a 22-19 lead.
Senior Ryan Ko registered a service ace for some extra cushion and Golden Valley tied the match at 1-1.
Ko also led the Grizzlies with 12 kills.
Hart’s most efficient serving set was the third, and with only two service errors, the team coasted to victory and took a 2-1 lead.
The Grizzlies showed immense signs of improvement, and with only a few seniors on head coach Sam Hand’s team, the future of the program is finally shaping up.
“I’m just proud of the growth that’s happened in the gym,” Hand said. “We’ve had two good preseason games and a good start against Castaic. I’m really happy with the personal improvement these guys have made. A lot of them have been here since freshman year and I’ve got to watch them grow a lot. The individual skill but also, the team chemistry has just exploded beautifully. And I’m really happy with where they’re at.”
Golden Valley blocked well, has some solid servers and a talented setter in Oliver Boton.
Boton led the team with three aces and spread the ball around everywhere as seven Grizzlies finished with multiple kills on the night. Waldron finished with 10 kills, while JC Navarro tallied nine.
Hart also has some depth around their CSUN-bound outsides in Douphner and Kaufman.
Senior Brandon Derham racked up seven kills and middle blocker Gabe Stokes also played well.
Mueller wasn’t expecting a five-set marathon but was pleased to start off league play with a hard-fought win.
“I want to give a ton of credit to Golden Valley for the way they played,” Mueller said. “They’re a really good volleyball team, really strong all around and they really pushed us. This was a really good game to start league off with.”
Hand was proud of his team’s effort against one of their fiercest foes.
“Honestly, this was probably our, in our minds, was the toughest competition coming in,” Hand said. “We’ve heard a lot about Hart and we know about the returning players that are strong like Douphner. I told my guys to be ready for war, expect the long run and no one’s gonna surprise you. But, this was one that we really wanted pretty bad, it could have made a statement, but I’m happy with the game we played and maybe next time we take it.”
The two will continue league play on Tuesday night. Hart will return home to host Saugus, while Golden Valley heads over to Canyon. Both games are slated for 5:30 p.m.
