Diamond Ranch boys’ volleyball’s gym was rocking in Thursday’s Division 4 opener with the visiting West Ranch Wildcats.
The Hacienda League champion Panthers fed off their home energy early but after taking some time to adjust, the Wildcats were able to answer and feed off the atmosphere as road warriors.
The Panthers were hitting just in between or around the Wildcat passers and blockers, leading Cats coach Brandon Johnson to circle the spots and adjust his block to help his team battle back.
“They had a very unique gym that was really big and they had a really loud cheering section and their cheerleaders were out,” Johnson said in a phone interview. “We had our families there being really loud and that first set was just a really crazy atmosphere that you don’t see too often in boys’ volleyball. We were a little bit unsettled as a team and didn’t play our best set. Once we kind of got a little bit more acclimated to the atmosphere, and once the boys were able to settle down and get themselves into the rhythm of the game, we were pretty much in control for the rest of the match.”
West Ranch took the match 3-1, winning 22-25, 25-19, 25-11, 25-21.
Wildcats junior Noah Douphner led the way on offense with 23 kills. Middle blocker Lucas Reuter and Aiden Prestridge both added seven kills for West Ranch.
While the Cats (21-11) can lean on their standout junior, Johnson knows his team is at its best when the surrounding stars in the West Ranch constellation are putting the ball away.
“It’s really nice to be able to have a guy that we can get a kill when we go to him but being able to have everybody else get kills throughout the matches is what makes us our best,” Johnson said.
After evening the match at 1-1, West Ranch’s block became the catalyst in the third game. The Wildcats added six blocks to push the team in the lopsided set.
“For our team that isn’t the tallest team in the world, being able to block for points is really huge for us,” Johnson said. “We had all the momentum (after the third set) and so we just had to make sure that we carried that into the final set.”
Douphner led with five blocks while Reuter added four and middle Lucas Fico tallied three.
While Diamond Ranch (16-13) adjusted and came close in the fourth, West Ranch prevailed thanks to a match point ace from Douphner.
The Wildcats will now return home for the second round of the playoffs to face the North Torrance Saxons (26-8).
North is a fellow wildcard team that has advanced after 3-0 and 3-1 wins.
West Ranch knows the competition will only get tougher from here but another strong blocking and all-around hitting performance could land the Wildcats in the quarterfinals next week.
“Every single playoff game only gets harder and harder,” Johnson said. “Being able to be at home for the next match should hopefully be nice for the boys. There’ll be a comfort level, but it’s still about execution and playing hard from the first point to set the tone early.”
West Ranch hosts North Torrance on Saturday at noon.
