Staring defeat in the face on Tuesday, the Saugus Centurions boys’ volleyball team found a way to advance in the first round of the playoffs.
After losing the third set at Saugus High School to go down 2-1 to the Chaminade Eagles, the Centurions ran out to an 8-0 lead in the fourth set. They would go on to win that one and the pivotal fifth set, taking down the visiting Eagles, 26-28, 25-22, 23-25, 25-20, 15-11, in the CIF Southern Section Division 5 first round.
“I think it was just nerves,” said Saugus (20-15) senior Luke Bergmann. “We all got really nervous towards the end of third, and I think once we shook that off, that’s when we started making more serves, that’s when we started pounding the balls.”
And as the Centurions continued to mount their comeback effort in the fourth set, the Saugus gym started to get louder and louder, feeding energy to the Centurions. Bergmann credited that and the Saugus bench for lifting the players on the court.
“Just energy,” Bergmann said. “Our bench had a huge part to play in it, because they really brought everybody up in the game and out of the game. And on the court, a lot of energy was a big thing. Because the sets we lost, we had very low energy.”
Saugus is set to travel to Los Alamitos High School on Friday to take on the Vaqueros in the second round.
Bergmann led the Centurions with 14 kills as one of four Saugus hitters to reach double-digit kills. Senior Owen Jackson had 12, while seniors Max Guardado and CJ Amaya each added 11.
Junior Josh Lane was just behind with nine kills.
Guardado had a stretch in the fourth set where he won three points in a row with blocks, which he said was simply reading the opponent and getting help from his teammates and coaches in knowing where the Eagles (13-13) were likely to hit.
“Looking at him and knowing where his eyes are, his shoulders, knowing where he’s gonna swing,” Guardado said. “So, I just had to put my hands up, and he was going into that spot.”
Saugus junior Immanuel Ranit had 30 assists while his setting partner, junior Ezekiel Ahn, contributed 21 assists.
The match-winning point for Saugus came when it looked like the Eagles had claimed it, but Saugus junior Riley Arana was able to just get his hand under the ball, popping it up to keep it in play. The ball eventually found its way over the net, and the ensuing Chaminade hit was blocked to win the game for the Centurions.
“Our setter slipped on my sweat,” Bergmann said, “so he was completely out of the play. But then our libero came in, pancaked it, where it goes off your hand when it’s on the floor, and then we pass it over, and the guy got blocked. It was perfect.”
Saugus had to fight to even make the playoffs, finishing just ahead of Golden Valley for fourth place in the Foothill League standings after trailing with just a couple of weeks left in the regular season.
But now the Centurions are feeling confident that their late-season form is carrying over to the postseason, where more success can be found.
“The games that we lost in season, some of them were so close and by two points, fifth set,” said Saugus head coach Kaitlyn McGinley. “Our whole league was gonna be neck and neck, so it just felt good to clinch a spot, because I knew they could. It just was a matter of how bad they wanted it.”
In the other boys’ volleyball playoff games on Tuesday featuring Santa Clarita Valley squads, Valencia took down Murrieta Mesa on the road in four sets while Canyon lost on the road at San Marino in four sets.
Valencia is slated to host Los Alamitos on Friday at 6 p.m.
